Well, if some services try to nickle and dime everything, to drain people of their cash; the market might well respond if all don't do this. People aren't apt to want to pay for something (like sending email), that they've gotten free for so long...
Some of the bigger limits (and there are some), such as running out of IP addresses, is why IP v6 is in place. The problem is that there are only 4 billion possible IP addresses (a 32-bit number), and even here they aren't all useable. A breakdown leaves:
- 255 possible class A networks (with 16 million clients), albeit only 0-127 in the first octet are used for class A liscenses. The entire block of 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255 is also set aside as a non-routable block of addresses. So right there, 16 million addresses are tossed out...
Also, firms that have class A liscenses (which are relatively few), who don't need 16 million addresses, more addresses waisted right there, as well as on any network the first address (the network address), and the last (broadcast address) being unable to be assigned are more unuseable addresses. This would be more noticeable with class C, or stub networks (subnetted to a /30 mask, as there are only 4 addresses on them, with 1/2 being non-assignable). If you're ISP does what quest did when I had quest.net and gives a 66.x.x.x address (which broadband providers give out to their DSL, and possibly cable? customers), subnetted with a /30 address, it can come into play in the class A netblock however. My current ISP subnets it also, but only to a /24 subnet mask...
- class B: 65,000 (approx) netblocks of aprox 65000 addresses (aka can be broken up as 2 16-bit numbers for network and host), albeit the class B only ranges from 128-170 or there abouts, with one of it's net blocks set aside for private addresses. A number of addresses are thrown out here, and not just 1 class B netblock alone...
- class C: 16 mill networks of 255 (really 255-2) hosts... But once again, anything with a 192.168 at the front gets thrown out, so 65k there...
They're fast comming to need a larger then 32-bit network address...
As to the government, there is one limit on their actions. Whatever they want to do, they want to maintain a "good public image". If/when the public cries fowl, to try to maintain good PR, even those without conscience or a sense of morality, will many times back off for a time, while continuing to "test the limits" wrt what they can get away with. Those who are in fact immoral don't always want to be obvious, or to be seen for what they are...