SlashDot: "Comcast Gunning for NAT Users"

Fri Feb 1 03:56:46 UTC 2002

[snip]

> If the ISP sells "unlimited" access, then customers have every
> right to use
> it without limit.
>
> If the ISP places restrictions on what access is allowed and/or how long,
> then it is no longer an unlimited service, and it would be fraud to market
> it as such.
>
> ISPs count on customers not using all of what is sold to them; if
> they turn
> out to be wrong, that is a part of the risk they took.

I remember back in college when I was the customer of an upstart ISP I
received a nasty-gram that explained to me the difference between the term
"unlimited" and "dedicated" (which stills sounds like marketing spin). This
was back in the day when racks of USR couriers were the norm.  Their
argument was they didn't want someone tying up a modem and a line 24/7.
They wanted me to upgrade my $36.95/mo "unlimited" account to a ~$300/mo
account plus pay a one-time setup fee that was exactly the street price of a
USR courier.

Bottom line = "read the fine print".  Oftentimes, it's not what makes sense
to normal humans, just lawyers. ;->

-T.