
Or perhaps
It's because the companies instituting these caps and transport filtering are doing so to constrain emerging alternative online video and phone services that will threaten their revenue. As a consumer, If you can't reliably and cost effectively use a non-Comcast service for VOD or audio / video conferencing, but instead can get quasi-similar Comcast-provided offerings, then... right. You'll suck it up and consolidate on their systems.
I understand the bandwidth concerns, and the digital cable conversion in the United States should help some of that, but if the bandwidth is constrained to such a degree that Comcast need to institute new caps and protocol policing, then how are they pushing ahead with "HD," VOD, and phone rollouts?
Take a quick look their most recent earnings info - look very closely at the growth #'s and then think on applications like Skype, Google's Grand Central, iChat, Hulu, Netflix on demand, etc.
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/080501/cmcsa10-q.html
I'm no tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, but I know when I'm being manipulated by a company. And yes - that's business - but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.