ISPs complained about Biden-era rule, said listing every fee was too hard.

The rule took effect in April 2024 after the FCC rejected ISPs’ complaints that listing every fee they created would be too difficult. The rule applies specifically to recurring monthly fees “that providers impose at their discretion, i.e., charges not mandated by a government.”

ISPs could comply with the rule either by listing the fees or by dropping the fees altogether and, if they choose, raising their overall prices by a corresponding amount. But the latter option wouldn’t fit with the strategy of enticing customers with a low advertised price and hitting them with the real price on their monthly bills. The broadband price label rules were created to stop ISPs from advertising misleadingly low prices.

  • Anakin-Marc Zaeger@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 days ago

    ISPs’ complaint[ed] that listing every fee they created would be too difficult.

    Here. If it means that fees become transparent and my rates go down, let me submit some free pseudo code into the public domain.

    class User {
  Charge[] charges;
  addCharge(Charge inData)

  listCharges() {
    foreach c in charges {
      print c.desc + ": " + c.amt
    }
  }  

  listChargeDescs() {
    foreach c in charges {
      print c.desc
    }
  }
}  

class Transaction {
  const String desc;
  const int amt;  // Transaction amount in millicent accounting units`  
}

class TOS {
  listUserFees(User inUser) {
    print inUser.listChargeDescs();
  }
}

    Now, it has been a quarter of a century since I got my BS in Telecommunications Management from DeVry University (a degree which only became useful to me after I got my job as a casino slot technician), and I only code at a hobbyist level, but if this code I wrote in about 5 minutes can completely revolutionize ISP billing and help them with transparency, you’re welcome.

    Though somehow, I’m guessing that this is a solution to a problem that they know they have, but willfully refuse to solve…