Reply #46: The difference is that "internet" is not a consumable commodity

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In the examples you cite, you're paying for either a physical substance (gas, water) or energy that has to be generated.

But in the case of internet access, all you're paying for is the use of the pipes -- and once the pipes are in place, the cost of moving a few more GB over them is vanishingly small.

This is why it makes a certain amount of sense to pay more per month for a broadband connection. That money is theoretically going into laying more cable, upgrading to fiber optic, etc. (Though given how little the telecoms are actually putting into doing those things, we're being rooked even there.)

But once you pay for use of a certain size of pipe, there should be no limit on how much data you pump through it each month. It doesn't cost the telecoms any more, so they shouldn't be able to gouge you.