Comments on: WiFi Personal Hotspot now on AT&T iPhone 4 with iOS 4.3, but jailbreaking is cheaper

By: BitterQ

BitterQ — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 03:29:22 +0000

That might be true that this is a bad-faith practice from AT&T but until that goes to court to prove that this violates antitrust laws (and let’s remember that we’re in a recession; unless you’re doing something serious, nobody is going to risk political suicide by going after a large company that’s generating revenue just for being dickish about their customer contracts in a market that does have competition – even if the competition is similarly dickish)… until that time, you’re breaking the contract that you signed and agreed to by jailbreaking and sharing.

I’ve seen lots of really lucid and arguably correct *ethical* arguments in these comments about the idea that it’s your data that you’ve bought and you should be able to do whatever you want with it… but the unfortunate reality is that it breaks the legal contract.

I’m not advocating one way or another… there are so many times where unjust laws have been defiantly broken by a minority that sparked change and new innovations in business and legality – but let’s not lie to ourselves. You may be ethically justified, but you’re still breaking your legal contract. It’s a bad contract, they defined all the rules without regard for logic or ethics, and they’ve got you by the balls (metaphorically – sorry ladies), but you did sign it and you thus have implicitly acknowledged the risks associated with breaking it.

Let’s just remember that there’s so many shades of grey here… and that just because you’re right doesn’t mean that you’re defendable should AT&T select you as a demonstrative case. The world sucks, and we do our best to live within it.

I walk across a street at a red light often when there’re no cars on the road. I was in no risk and I put nobody else in danger… but I still jaywalked… in some cities that’s legal, but just because it’s legal in Springfield doesn’t mean that I haven’t broken the law if I did it in Shelbyville, where it’s illegal.

By: Yo

Yo — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:32:04 +0000

Hi, most Asian carriers don’t charge “hot spot” fee, not even heard of!
ATT is very creative for aqueezing more milk from customers and other major carriers follow…

Not sure the reasons people post here:
1. You pay extra for the extra service: what service? The hardware support this natively already, and I paid for the phone; there’s no extra data I didn’t pay for
2. If you don’t like ATT go somewhere else: unfortunately this industry is all about monopoly and “protected” business, what it says is cosumers can only pay money big coporates without any resistance for unreasonable charges!

By: Chip

Chip — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:57:15 +0000

Your analogy is inaccurate picture of this! If u wanna compare it your way….it would be like going out to eat, and buying 5 hot dogs for a flat rate, and then sharing those with your friends! (which is totally fine, cause you payed for them) And if they or you, eat all 5 and want more, you go pay extra, as in the $10 more for each GB!

By: Tina

Tina — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:24:22 +0000

Believe it or not, in order to set up the personal hotspot through AT&t, I would have to pay $20 more for less data AND I would lose my unlimited data plan for good. How does it even remotely make sense that I would have to pay More for Less data to enable this feature. Simply ludacris. I am very much looking forward to trying Jailbreak and MyWi! Thanks so much for sharing

By: Chris Your A Dumb Ass!!

Chris Your A Dumb Ass!! — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:52:11 +0000

Chris obviously you aren’t reading the posts. We pay for the G Damn data you Fn idiot. What fn device we choose to use it in is none of their GD business PERIOD. Now shut up and sit the F down. Or pull your head outta you A** and clean the Shi* out of your ears.

By: Carl Gundel

Carl Gundel — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:58:31 +0000

If your contract with AT&T doesn’t prohibit the use of a Wifi Hotspot application then there is nothing wrong with giving it a go. If AT&T sends you a hefty bill or if they shut you off, you can always take your complaint to them and try to get it resolved.

If you don’t like AT&T you can always go with some other carrier that you like more. If your favorite carrier doesn’t support the phone you like? Oh well, sometimes you can’t get everything you want.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:11:02 +0000

I have a rooted Android phone that I use to tether my laptop occasionally.. I haven’t gotten a letter yet fortunately. If I did I would immediately switch carriers. I pay for my data, if I want to use it for my laptop while I travel, I have the right to do that. Even if I want to share my internet connection with a friend, I paid for the data, Why should I feel guilty about how I use it. How is that the slightest bit dishonest.

What is dishonest is all the claims that at&t has made about getting faster with 4G. I’ve had a 4G phone for years now and I don’t know about any of you, but I have yet to enter a 4G coverage area with at&t. When is that going to happen?

I pay enough for at&ts lies and their crappy service. I’m not paying them even more so I can actually use what I’ve already paid for. If anyone here has a problem with that, they can just cry about it.

P.S. I’m jailbreaking my girlfriends Iphone next week so she can tether too.

By: midwestAT&T user

midwestAT&T user — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:28:00 +0000

JB, how much does AT&T pay you?

AT&T may face antitrust law suits by preventing innovation from companies such as Jailbreak.

By: midwestAT&T user

midwestAT&T user — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:23:06 +0000

JP,

Seriously, no one really uses ‘unlimited data plan’. AT&T, Verizon charges more to make money.

By: midwestAT&T user

midwestAT&T user — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:19:22 +0000

Dave M, you must be getting paid by AT&T. The various data plans AT&T insists on charging iphone users clearly goes to pay for salaries of many.

By: midwestAT&T user

midwestAT&T user — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:15:19 +0000

Thomas, you must be getting paid by AT&T.

By: Dsmitty

Dsmitty — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:09:29 +0000

OK here’s an idea that trumps everything!!! Everybody should get Internet for free everywhere! Why you ask? Because in this modern world the internet is as important as having FREAKING AIR TO BREATH!!! Without the internet the whole world would be screwed and governments would fall. Oh but it costs money to keep it going and get it to your house or phone, yeah but how many advertisements do u see everyday? We can watch basic tv without paying a dime. Why? Because of advertising! These companies pay billions a year to get us to by their stuff. So why shouldn’t Internet be free? It should. But somehow we let AT&T, Verizon, and others be a middle man that charges out the wazoo for something that the world needs. And to get back to the topic at hand, now they want to charge us to use a small tool, thats already on the phones that WE bought, so we can use the Internet that WE ALREADY PAID FOR!!! SCREW YOU ATT AND VERIZON! SUCK IT!!!

By: Sandie

Sandie — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:51:57 +0000

Have there been any cases of AT&T discovering mywi use or of cutting off access?

By: JB

JB — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:10:29 +0000

Justify it all you want but you are wrong if you agree to buy a product and then knowingly violate the terms and agreement of the usage contract. Grow up….

From the AT&T Wireless Customer Contract Section 6.1
A data plan designated for one type of device may not be used with another type of device. For example, a data plan designated for use with a basic phone or a Smartphone may not be used with a LaptopConnect card, tablet, or stand-alone Mobile Hotspot device, by tethering devices together, by SIM card transfer, or any other means. A data tethering plan, however, may be purchased for an additional fee to enable tethering on a compatible device. An Activation Fee may apply for each data line.

By: JB

JB — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:18:57 +0000

Except there is no such thing as an “unlimited” plan with an electric company. If I had an “unlimited” plan with an electric company would you think it is ok for everyone on my block to run an extension cord to my house. Maybe you would because you think the electric company is charging you too much. Justify it all you want but you are wrong if you agree to buy a product and then knowingly violate the terms and agreements of the usage policy.