[eli]

But at some level doesn't it cost Verizon more the more I download? Why shouldn't they be allowed to pass down that cost?

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how this is any different from my electricity bill. Sure, I'd love an economical flat-rate power plan, but I don't expect to get it any time soon.

People conflate metered internet with Net Neutrality. They're not the same thing. There's a big difference between Verizon charging more for using lots of bandwidth and Verizon charging more (or blocking) VoIP services that compete with their main business.

[SamAtt]

One could just as easily equate high speed internet to Cable television. You don't get charged more for watching more.

In the end it's somewhere in the middle. But the reality is that companies are making money now off unlimited access and those handy anti-trust laws we have prevent all the Internet companies from banding together to implement metered access. So even if it did make more sense it's unlikely a provider could implement it without losing out to competition (since again the current model is profitable)