Somehow, all of sudden, BellSouth CTO, Bill Smith, came out of closet to justify the company’s ultimately-stupid idea of charging internet companies a fee to access its network (read: users) to deliver movies and music by saying they are using the telco’s network without paying for it.

He further argued that consumers should welcome the pay-for-delivery concept saying, “It’s the shipping business of the digital age”.

Jesus! You are the CTO of BellSouth, Mr. Smith. Stop making stupid comments like these.

This exact idea does not justify a shipping business but an extortion business. If you have some problem understanding it, let me explain it in simpler words to you – your company has already charged the shipment fees from the users.

In fact, I agree with Jeff Pulver that it would be a better idea if Google starts charging your company to allow your users to access their site or perhaps even block them if you do something crazy like what you are suggesting. Why? Because you deserve a shock to realize the intensity of stupidity of this decision.

Okay, I confess that I have been harsh in my words because I am affected directly, being a web publisher myself who indulges in publishing multimedia content on the Internet.

However, your users and you yourself are going to be affected more than me!

#1. Surprise! Your customers are unhappy. Did you know your consumers are addicted to searching the Internet via Google, watching movies online on iFilm and zillions of other sites like it, downloading music from iTunes and other stuff that you are trying to charge premium for?

Guess what? You will have more unsatisfied customers that you want to believe.You are going to dent your brand forever.

You are going to not only lose your current customers but future ones too. Even if you revert these steps later, people will be scared to come back to you thinking you may do it again.

#2. No soup for you too. It is not only the web publishers who will lose business because of your decision but even you. People addicted to the Internet implies more usage of the services you offer which implies more profits for you.

#3. Your competitors get a bite of you. Do you realize how difficult it is to change people’s habits? Instead of just accepting and blending their preferences to what you are offering, they will just switch to other ISPs who give them a freedom of choice.

Be ready to disappoint your CFO and making your competitors really happy by going ahead with your plans.

#4. And you think we, publishers, will sit just like that doing nothing? Just give it a thought mate. Do you think that we will sit just like that doing nothing but complying with your extortion demands? (Hint : Hail Google! Hail AOL! Hail Justice Department! Hail Fair Trade Commissions! Hail the Lobbyists! ).

In conclusion, if you go ahead and try to enforce premium pricing, this decision would go in history as one of the worst decisions that any telco ever took. Don’t forget to think about the long-term consequences before taking any step like this.