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We’ve talked before that metered access is a boneheaded idea that is bad for innovation, bad for Microsoft and Google, and ultimately bad for you. Until today, the idea seemed like an eventuality, not an immediate reality. But then NBC and TonicTV launched a new service that lets you download video from the Olympics and watch it offline. Right next to the installation instructions was this “important”note:

That’s the first warning I’ve seen about a particular service not being recommended for folks with metered broadband access. But the real bummer? That is just a taste of things to come — especially if you’re a fan of video services like Hulu.

We’re not even talking P2P throttling, just straight video consumption. In fact, P2P isn’t even a huge deal for networks anymore (but not because of that slap on the wrist the FCC gave Comcast). DSLReports writes that as of June “AT&T traffic was about 1/3 Web (non video/audio streams), 1/3 Web video/audio streams, and 1/5 P2P.” Those audio and video streams — that’s Hulu and YouTube. And as they provide more content at higher quality, those streams are only going to increase. [digg=http://digg.com/tech_news/Warning_Sign_Metered_Broadband_Already_a_Hassle]

If metered access becomes standard, there will come a day when you spend less time watching videos, and more time counting the number of videos you watched to avoid going over your cap.

You have been warned.