It would probably be much better if internet service was metered but it would not go over well after we all have been used to the unlimited pipe.
I think that the real problem is not perceived acceptance by customers, but that moving to metered billing makes the service look more like a utility. If I were running an ISP I would want to do everything I could to keep people from equating my service with water or electricity.
This was 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7336940.stm
The ISPs have total control over their subscribers' connection fees. If they set them too low to make a profit,* then they need to raise those fees and live with the consequences, not go trying to extort profits from new sources.
*I don't believe for an instant that the major ISPs are actually hurting, mind you. They just see an opportunity to make even more of a profit.
Ha! Sorry can't read statements like that without laughing/cringing. We all lost our "unlimited pipe" years ago .. in fact I'd argue we never had it in the first place only that the technology prevented us from hitting our limits in the early days.
How do you stop that prankster on unmetered service from pingflooding you so you're charged hundreds of dollars?
Now that ads cost me money, I have good reason to do adblock.
Does it cost as much to download that file from a congested line as it does from my ISP's cache?
And when there's still congestion do I pay for all the retransmissions from dropped packets?
When you're paid per subscription, and you at most carry 64kbps through a small local area before long distance fees kick in, it works.
Even so, in Europe (and I believe most of the world) landline usage is metered. It is the US model of free local calls that is unusual.