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NGOwner
join:2000-11-21
Leawood, KS
| reply to BrianDamage
Re: What are the terms of the contract?
There is one thing many of you do not seem to grasp.
A company selling a service has the right to dictate how that service is going to be used. The way a service is to be used is usually contained in a TOS/AUP that becomes binding upon acceptance of the service in question.
If you violate those terms, the service can be taken away from you and you can be prosecuted for violating those terms.
It's very simple, if you do not want to abide by the the rules laid down by the service provider, find a service by whose terms you can abide. If you can't find a provider by whose terms you can abide, become one yourself. You however are not in a position to unilaterally change the terms by which you acquire some other company's service.
These arguments that some people spout about how I paid for it and so I can use it any way I see fit make me laugh. You can only use the service for which you paid within the parameters of the Terms of Use/Acceptable Use Policy in force for that service.
Remember, the non-enforcement of a particular provision of a TOS/AUP does not render the rest of that document powerless. Those provisions can be enforced capriciously or systematically. It makes no difference at all.
Read the Terms of Use/Acceptable Use Policy that governs your residential internet connection. You will find that much of what you do with it is not permitted under those documents. It is only a matter of time before those provisions are enforced for the $45 product you are using.
If you don't like the enforcement of those policies, tough. You agreed to them already when the first bit was transfered over your service providers wires. Your only recourse upon enforcement is is to find a service that will allow you to do the things that your previous service did not, or pay your current provider for the level of service that permits those activities.
[NG]Owner
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It is impossible to create an idiot-proof product. Humanity is simply too adept at churning out better idiots. | |
BrianDamage
We Are The Hounds From Hell
Premium
join:2001-08-14
Rowlett, TX
clubs: 
| These arguments that some people spout about how I paid for it and so I can use it any way I see fit make me laugh. You can only use the service for which you paid within the parameters of the Terms of Use/Acceptable Use Policy in force for that service.
I don't have problems with TOS contracts.
However, it is "redistribution" that is a gray area.
If this guy was doing what he is doing while profiting from it, then it would be a clear-cut case.
But he isn't. Therefore, everything behind his Airport can be construed as his equipment or network. As such, his network is his to do with what he pleases, as long as his private networking configuration(s) does not cause excessive bottlenecking, system damage, or other carrier network disruption.
It would seem that the carrier cannot prove anything in relation to these reasonable claims.
The only thing they are enflamed about is that other folks are piggybacking on this guy's network, or are part of his network, and not ordering the service for themselves. It's pure greed.
Now, when his network reaches a point where network disruption is evident, and they can document and prove it, then shut him down.
Until then, leave him alone.
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We've got our eye on the firmaments, our hand on the armaments, our heads full of arguments, and words for our monuments..... | |
schyfe
join:2002-01-08
West Palm Beach, FL |  You couldn't have said it better than that Preach On!! | |
NOVA_Guy
Obama- Commander in Thief
Premium
join:2002-03-05
 ·VOIPo
| reply to BrianDamage
I don't have problems with TOS contracts, in general. It's like buying a house and having a homeowners association; it helps keep life bearable for all those in the neighborhood-- so that idiot that we all have living down the street from us can't paint his house pink... In this case, the TOS exists to ensure that all subscribers have as good an experience as possible. Without a TOS, a single individual could suck up 25% of the bandwidth of a single node, leaving many without acceptable levels of service.
However, it seems that in this case, the provisions of the TOS are being enforced only for the sake of profit and greed. This is when a TOS contract gets ugly and unfair, and goes overboard. It's like the homeowners association coming around and telling you that you can't put blue carpet in your second floor bedroom that can't be seen from the street-- basically, it's none of their business. It's like the homeowners association telling you that you can't have sex with your girlfriend at your house-- it's none of their business. And it's like the homeowners association telling you that you can't run a home business from your house-- it's none of their business. (getting the picture?)
In all the above examples regarding the homeowners association, what you're doing ONLY affects you. It only becomes their business when what you do affects others and the value of their homes (like painting your house pink or letting your home become run-down).
It should be the same with any TOS regarding the use of services. As long as what you do only affects you, it's none of their business. Just as it's none of the cable company's business who I invite over to my house for a PPV event, it's none of their business who I invite to use my broadband connection-- so long as it isn't negatively impacting anyone else's experience. No matter what the TOS says.
Now, in this case, I would agree that the guy was asking for it, advertising free 802.11b connectivity on his web site and all. But the fact remains that when I pay for something-- be it a service, an item, or a combination thereof-- it remains my right to enjoy it the best way I see fit.
This TOS is like a Verizon Wireless saying that the only person allowed to use your cell phone is you, and that letting your friend use the phone to make a call is a violation of the TOS that results in theft of service. Who are they kidding here? A 6 year old child is capable of seeing the stupidity inherent in this crap.
Who is hurt in this case? Nobody. Let me repeat that: NOBODY. So long as the rest of the users are not negatively impacted, I don't see any point to this part of the TOS-- other than putting more money into a greedy company's pocket. Boo, Road Runner. Shame on you.
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"Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are." - Meat Loaf, Bat out of Hell II | |
boogie74
join:2001-06-19
Neenah, WI
clubs:
| quote:
However, it seems that in this case, the provisions of the TOS are being enforced only for the sake of profit and greed. This is when a TOS contract gets ugly and unfair, and goes overboard. It's like the homeowners association coming around and telling you that you can't put blue carpet in your second floor bedroom that can't be seen from the street-- basically, it's none of their business. It's like the homeowners association telling you that you can't have sex with your girlfriend at your house-- it's none of their business. And it's like the homeowners association telling you that you can't run a home business from your house-- it's none of their business. (getting the picture?)
In all the above examples regarding the homeowners association, what you're doing ONLY affects you. It only becomes their business when what you do affects others and the value of their homes (like painting your house pink or letting your home become run-down).
It should be the same with any TOS regarding the use of services. As long as what you do only affects you, it's none of their business. Just as it's none of the cable company's business who I invite over to my house for a PPV event, it's none of their business who I invite to use my broadband connection-- so long as it isn't negatively impacting anyone else's experience. No matter what the TOS says.
I'm a bit lost as to how you come to these conclusions. By the same token, one might as well say, "Even though it's illegal, I should be able to sell or give away my prescription pain killers or ADD medication (in layman's terms, "speed" or "amphetamines") to my friends looking to use the drugs recreationally."
If you pay for a product and agree to use it according to a list of rules and regulations, you can't just break some of them because you don't like what they say or mean. It is NOT greedy of a company to ask its customers to pay to use the product that it offers; NOR is it greedy to ask them not to re-distribute the product or service to others. Companies are in business for profit- if they weren't, people wouldn't have employment. I hope for your sake that the company you work for stays profitable (in other words, ripping off customers by overcharging them) so that you can still get a paycheck.
Boogie | |
Kylow
@167.1.x.x
| reply to BrianDamage
Well, if you're talking about prosecution, you may have a point, but if you're referring to whether or not they can cancel his service, they undoubtedly have a clause that states something like "We may terminate your account at any time, with or without cause." If they terminate the account of everyone who they find to be redistributing, people will stop doing it, or at the very least, there will be a marked decrease in the amount of wifi sharing going on. | |
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