A new cure for media piracy: charge for it.

They've tried persuasion. They're tried the court system. They've even tried offering alternatives (most, admittedly, pretty lame). Now, the companies whose incomes are being threatened by the pirating of music, movies, and other media have hit upon a strategy that may actually work: They will charge for the bandwidth.

Time Warner Cable, Inc. has confirmed that it plans to test out a new system of billing subscribers based on usage. According to the New York Times, Time Warner spokesman Alexander Dudley has said that the policy is "aimed at people who use peer-to-peer networks and download terabytes.”

Apparently, though, Time Warner plans to charge for gigabytes, not terabytes. Its new plan, which is going to be tested in Beaumont, Texas (probably not a hotbed of bandwidth piracy, but who knows?) will, according to Multichannel News, take the form of several packages offering download caps of 5, 10, 20 or 40 GB per month; users who go over those limits will face additional charges.

It's an interesting, and possibly effective, strategy. While many of those who illicitly download copyrighted material do so because it is not otherwise available (for example, a British TV program that is not available in the U.S. or vice versa), it can't be denied that getting copies of digital media for free plays a large part of the lure. If they will have to pay indirectly through increased fees for their broadband connections, it could discourage at least a percentage of current downloaders.

However, considering that more and more consumers are making legitimate downloads of full-length motion pictures, TV shows, and other videos, these new limitations will obviously impact more than the presumed 5% of broadband hogs -- especially if the upper limit turns out to be 40 GB. For example, I've been trying out Netflix's new service, streaming videos to my computer (and from there to my TV), and am using it more and more. Since I'm something of a movie fan, how soon would it be before the charges started accruing?

In fact, it occurs to me that while companies like Time Warner may enjoy a larger income from these new fees -- and may discourage some of the more enthusiastic media file downloaders -- services such as Netflix may not be as happy about it. If downloading media is going to mean charges both from the media service and from the broadband service, a certain number of consumers may reconsider. (Of course, this may be part of what Time Warner, as a media distributor, is hoping will happen.)

Meanwhile, Time Warner is most likely testing not only the viability of a usage-based billing system, but the public reaction to it. While there may be a reasonable segment who feels that it is justified to try to discourage bandwidth "hogs" by charging them extra, a lot of consumers who never actually come close to downloading 40 GB may resent having to worry about yet another charge that can be tacked on to their monthly bills.