Do you think tethering without a carrier tethering plan is immoral?

[0dev]

Of course it isn't immoral, if you pay for a data plan you should be allowed to use your allowance however the ****** you like. The US carriers which do that crap are immoral ones, if anything.

Luckily here in the UK, you can usually just use any normal data plan for tethering anyway

 

[nigameash]

If you are paying for a data plan, there is no reason why you cant use it for tethering. Its only in the USA that carriers follow such ******** policies. You the free peoples of the USA should rise up against this and overthrow their hegemony. There are very few countries if any that follow the same policies. Besides its your fault that you let carriers exert such strict control over your lives in the first place. Its still not too late, you can do it. Disrupt the system and force them to meet your demands.

 

[b24pgg]

If you are paying for a data plan, there is no reason why you cant use it for tethering. Its only in the USA that carriers follow such ******** policies. You the free peoples of the USA should rise up against this and overthrow their hegemony. There are very few countries if any that follow the same policies. Besides its your fault that you let carriers exert such strict control over your lives in the first place. Its still not too late, you can do it. Disrupt the system and force them to meet your demands.

I like you.

 

[0dev]

I like how my post pretty much says the same as nigameash's, yet I have -3. Why? Jealous Americans or what?

 

[Mochi Hana]

If you are paying for a data plan, there is no reason why you cant use it for tethering. Its only in the USA that carriers follow such ******** policies. You the free peoples of the USA should rise up against this and overthrow their hegemony. There are very few countries if any that follow the same policies. Besides its your fault that you let carriers exert such strict control over your lives in the first place. Its still not too late, you can do it. Disrupt the system and force them to meet your demands.

I couldn't agree more...

 

[b24pgg]

I like how my post pretty much says the same as nigameash's, yet I have -3. Why? Jealous Americans or what?

The voting system here is meaningless. If you use an ad blocker like Adblock Plus, just hide them by manually adding this filter:

forums.macrumors.com##SPAN[id*="post_rate_"]

 

[b24pgg]

I think unethical might be a better word to use in this context

Well there's no question that tethering against the terms of your carrier agreement is unethical.

My question makes more sense since morality is an individual thing.

 

[-aggie-]

Agreed. US carriers are greedy. Most UK carriers let you use your data however I want. I'm on a truly unlimited plan with T-Mobile UK and I can even tether.

They're not a nonprofit organization. They sell at what the market will bear.

 

[tjb1]

Up to 13.4gb this month with 1 day left...oh well.

They wont pay to run high speed 1 mile up the road, I am not gonna pay for 2gb of tethering. What the hell am I gonna do with 2gb??

 

[derickdub]

Yes, because it goes against the terms you and your carrier agreed upon when signing a contract.

I could say I feel the same about what carriers do though, since there is no reason (unless you have an unlimited data plan) that you shouldn't be allowed to tether. It's just the carrier's way of getting that extra penny out of the few people who need it.

 

[gnasher729]

My opinion is that since I have paid for the data I should be able to use it in any manner I choose, and the carrier is immoral for attempting to charge me extra for tethering/hotspot functionality.

I'm just curious how many others share this opinion.

Well, you didn't pay for the data. If you pay let's say for an "up to 3 GB" plan, you are paying for the average amount of data used by everyone on that plan, which is probably somewhere between 1 GB and 1.5 GB.

 

[astrorider]

Up to 13.4gb this month with 1 day left...oh well.

They wont pay to run high speed 1 mile up the road, I am not gonna pay for 2gb of tethering. What the hell am I gonna do with 2gb??

You make it sound like someone's forced you to steal. If whatever company you'd like to run high speed to your house won't, you can go elsewhere or do without. It's not like you have a right to high speed internet. Maybe satellite internet is available in your area. Whatever option you find will probably be more expensive than stealing, but that's usually how stealing works.

 

[s15119]

My opinion is that since I have paid for the data I should be able to use it in any manner I choose, and the carrier is immoral for attempting to charge me extra for tethering/hotspot functionality.

I'm just curious how many others share this opinion.

It all depends on the contract. It's not a good thing to break an agreement. Didn't we learn this in kindergarden?

 

[tjb1]

You make it sound like someone's forced you to steal. If whatever company you'd like to run high speed to your house won't, you can go elsewhere or do without. It's not like you have a right to high speed internet. Maybe satellite internet is available in your area. Whatever option you find will probably be more expensive than stealing, but that's usually how stealing works.

Yes because just moving houses is an option. Oh and paying $80 a month for 2x the speed of dial up works too. Maybe Verizon should honor the petition and bring the high speed line like they have been saying they would for the past 10 years.

Half the forum is all, "**** cds, digital is the way it is" but dont realize that a large percentage of the US doesnt have internet that supports it.

I dont give two ***** about your opinion. Yes it is Verizons fault, literally a mile of highspeed line would supply about 20 houses. We have petitioned them and they have done nothing. The power company ran completely new poles and lines the whole way up our road yet Verizon has left their phone lines on the old poles. So yeah, I will tether as much as I please. Not even like they offer a tethering option that would be of any use.

 

[pMad]

Of course it is. It's a violation of a contract you agreed to when you signed up for it.

You can hate it if you want, but that doesn't change the facts.

I realize that this I'm late to the party, but this is stupid.
It is a NONNEGOTIABLE contract.

So either I agree to the tethering language or I don't get an iphone at all.


Look at the UELA with every new iTunes update.
Either I agree to it, or my $300 device can no longer update.

That's not a contract, it's blackmail.

 

[RainCityMacFan]

I think it's unethical for carriers to even have a tethering plan.

It's my data that I paid for and it's my phone's function that I bought, what difference does it make to the carrier?

 

[Calidude]

I gotta say one thing in here: Apple would charge extra for this kinda stuff too.

 

[CallOfDuty]

Yes and No. Let me explain why.

YES: It is immoral, not from the consumer's perspective and rights, but actually on paper. If you tether without a tethering plan, you are considered an immoral customer who abuses the contract signed between you and the carrier and the trust in between. However, as a service provider, your carrier can't do anything much to you as a paying customer, except sneakily adding a tethering plan for you. (Which is in other words, immoral for the carrier. They are not allowed to add anything to your contract without your permission, and worse still raising your bills)

NO: It is immoral for the carriers to force customers to pay for something they should ought to have full rights on. I paid for 2GBs of Data, I want to do whatever I want with it. You can step in and charge me when I exceed the 2GBs, but not when I'm still within 2GB.
I personally think tethering plans is a ridiculous ploy to get more profits from customers. I don't see anything wrong with sharing your data with your other devices as long as you stay within what you are given.

They should have a free tethering plan bundled in if you sign up for a higher-tier data plan, and perhaps have an add-on tethering plan bundled with a free 1GB add on to your current data plan. While it will still raise the controversy of having a tethering plan in the first place, the free 1GB that comes with it tethering plan would appease some.

But we are all consumers here, in MacRumors. Of course, as consumers, we defend our rights. So we often opt for what's advantageous and good for us. As for the carriers, profit maximisation is a big topic 24/7. They aren't non-profit organizations, they designed to make $$$$ off us! We can't blame them all the time about raising bills and prices. In the end, its all private companies' goal to maximise profits and keep raising profit targets. You may even realised that as consumers we benefit in the end. Because of higher profits, any carrier right in the mind would decide to pump more money into the infrastructure. Thanks to the free market system, consumers drive the market demand and supply, hence the carrier's can't do anything OUTRAGEOUS.

However, there is a urgent need for a balance between the profit maximisation aim of the consumers and the consumer's rights. So, my suggestion as said previously would definitely help both parties work in the right direction.

 

[Technarchy]

If someone sells something and you take it without paying for it that's theft.

Theft is immoral.

No this does not mean the carriers are not scumbags.

 

[Eso]

Of course not.

Morality is concerned with an absolute scale of right and wrong. It may be a scale subjective to an individual, culture, or particular time period, but it's a scale that is not subject to laws, norms, or contracts.

By virtue of simply being born in the United States we agree to abide by it's laws, but that doesn't mean that those laws are always valid. Our history is a record of brave individuals challenging the law on moral grounds and invalidating the law in court.

Just because one signs a contract saying that they won't tether doesn't make it immoral to tether any more than a black person drinking from a "whites only" water fountain 50 years ago made them immoral (even though they were born in the US, technically "agreeing" to the discriminatory law). It is unethical, just like it used to be illegal for a black person to use white facilities.

That's no indication for morality, however - for what is right or wrong. Segregation is wrong, and so is dictating the use of tethering on data plans with a data cap.

A wireless data service has only two metrics: bandwidth and data transfer. Bandwidth is the rate at which data is transferred; data is the total amount of data that has been transferred.

Carriers make no guarantee as to the bandwidth their service will provide. You simply get what you get as a function of reception and available service. It's also independent of tethering - a user will get the same bandwidth whether or not they are tethering. Therefore, distinguishing service based upon tethering, in terms of bandwidth, is invalid. In other words, a customer doesn't get more bandwidth when tethering, therefore there is no justification for charging more for "better service".

Tethering does increase the amount of data a customer can access. Because the usage and capabilities of devices differ, a user can access more data through a computer than through a mobile phone. Since a user can access a greater amount of data through tethering than without, there is a justification for charging more because the customer is getting a better service.

With a limited data plan, however, that justification is completely nullified. With a limit to how much data a user is allowed to access, tethering no longer allows the user to access more data. The cap is constant - the user is limited to a certain amount of data whether or not they are tethering. Therefore, once again, distinguishing service based upon tethering, in terms of data transfer, is invalid.

Since the two metrics that define the service are independent of whether or not a user is tethering, there's no justification for charging more for it. It doesn't matter if a customer uses 2 GB in 30 days on their mobile or 2 GB in 5 days on their desktop.

The customer is provided with the same bandwidth.
The customer is provided with the same amount of data.
Therefore, the customer is being provided with the same service.

It is immoral to charge more for tethering when the customer is being provide the same service. That's all there is to it.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

My opinion is that since I have paid for the data I should be able to use it in any manner I choose, and the carrier is immoral for attempting to charge me extra for tethering/hotspot functionality.

I'm just curious how many others share this opinion.

It is not immoral. Data = data. Over here, by law all data should be treated 'equal' (and thus, since last year, providers cannot charge for tethering and stuff like that).

Bits are bits. Bytes are bytes. They don't change when you thether.

 

[moldy912]

I would say no, because it's your data and you should be able to choose where to put it. However, Verizon has their new data share plan, and I was wondering if tethering is still a separate charge. Anyone have any info on that?

 

[b24pgg]

Verizon has their new data share plan, and I was wondering if tethering is still a separate charge. Anyone have any info on that?

Tethering is included in the new data share plans...although 75% of people will end up paying MORE with the new plans than they are currently so it's not really much of a consolation.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I don't care if it's immoral or not. I do it anyways.

 

[quietstormSD]

Imagine all iPhone users facing God on judgement day and God brings up tethering while not under tethering plan. ::gulp::