You have a choice though - you just don't have a choice of carrier if you want an iPhone. But there are a lot of other phones and a few other service providers out there. Just sayin....
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
So how do you justify to your self stealing?
- Thread starter Lamarak
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
You have a choice though - you just don't have a choice of carrier if you want an iPhone. But there are a lot of other phones and a few other service providers out there. Just sayin....
True, but it is (or 95% should be) against the law for AT&T and Apple to offer a phone that can only be used under one company, especially when you can pay sticker price for an unlocked one.
Using an iPhone is NOT a privilege...learn to use words properly please:
priv·i·lege
/ˈprɪvəlɪdʒ, ˈprɪvlɪdʒ/ Show Spelled [priv-uh-lij, priv-lij] Show IPA noun, verb, -leged, -leg·ing.
noun
1.
a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most: the privileges of the very rich.
2.
a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities: the privilege of a senator to speak in Congress without danger of a libel suit.
3.
a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.
4.
the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.
5.
any of the rights common to all citizens under a modern constitutional government: We enjoy the privileges of a free people.
6.
an advantage or source of pleasure granted to a person: It's my privilege to be here.
7.
Stock Exchange . an option to buy or sell stock at a stipulated price for a limited period of time, including puts, calls, spreads, and straddles.
verb (used with object)
8.
to grant a privilege to.
9.
to exempt (usually fol. by from ).
10.
to authorize or license (something otherwise forbidden).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/privilege
we could argue a lot of things that aren't relevant to the OP's thoughts in regards to cell phone carriers, manufacturers, contract, etc. One would consider those straw man type arguments that have nothing to do with the actual discuss.
Not knocking you. Just saying that if someone wanted to use THAT as a defense for tethering, it would be just another excuse.
There's no debate as a mentioned earlier. As of today - T&C on the contract prohibit tethering unless an additional plan is purchased. So anyone who is tethering has broken the terms of their contract. That's fact. Not opinion. The who, what, where, when and why doesn't matter. And everyone will have their one say/opinion as noted on this thread. But the FACT remains - it's a violation.
Thank you someone with the balls to say something.
^^^best quote in this thread no doubt.
That analogy would be better suited to roaming...
I don't disagree with SFC on his point here. For those who are NOT on unlimited plans - a very valid argument. For those on unlimited plans - not so much
Eventually enough people will force ATT into another form of changing the way they do things because of things like this. Its what in my opinion made them stop offering the unlimited plan. Once the unlimited plan is gone for all, and in
time it will, the next big change that im sure will make people mad will only have people that feel they are above the contract they signed to blame.
I dont think people are evil or horrible that do this, but just shows the trouble with our country that if we dont agree with something, we just cheat it rather then try to change it.
I guess thats the sad part of all this. Ill continue to pay for my tethering because i agreed to ATT terms of usage. If ATT changes to a policy I dont agree with, i will go elsewhere and vote that decision with my wallet rather than try to see what i can do to circumvent what I signed.
time it will, the next big change that im sure will make people mad will only have people that feel they are above the contract they signed to blame.
I dont think people are evil or horrible that do this, but just shows the trouble with our country that if we dont agree with something, we just cheat it rather then try to change it.
I guess thats the sad part of all this. Ill continue to pay for my tethering because i agreed to ATT terms of usage. If ATT changes to a policy I dont agree with, i will go elsewhere and vote that decision with my wallet rather than try to see what i can do to circumvent what I signed.
To me, that is truly the issue - for the $20 tethering fee, you are gaining absolutely nothing. All AT&T is doing is enabling a feature built in to iOS that a relatively simple hack can enable as well.
I can somewhat see AT&T's side of things when it comes to those with unlimited plans, because for a set fee, you can use tons of GBs of data each month & AT&T has to eat whatever cost that incurs on top of your monthly fee. However, charging $20 a month for people with tiered plans, who will ALREADY be paying AT&T's predetermined amount for usage over the data plan they signed up for, makes absolutely no sense and is in extremely poor taste on AT&T's part.
You have to be ****ing kidding me if you think that tethering and not profits is why the industry is eliminating unlimited plans.
My god thats naive.
It's so funny to see people get wound up like a 2 dollar watch on matters that mean so much. Hate to see a real issue being argued. Think some was on the verge of crying here, franticly reading every reply, checking back every 30 seconds.
Get a grip people.
Get a grip people.
Perhaps you didn't actually read the definition. Buying an iPhone easily qualifies as a "benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most," as well as "a grant to an individual of a special right under certain conditions," and "an advantage or source of pleasure granted to a person" and even "to authorize or license."
Seriously, did you read it? Do you honestly claim that owning an iPhone is a right?
I'm using my data I pay for each month. It matters how? I guess I'll buy Internet separate for my xbox iPhone and iPad cause I can't use a router with it
Its naive to think that people jailbreaking to use tethering rather than pay for it has no effect on the way ATT does business or figure out their rates.
While we're on the subject, texts are data too, and we should not be charged extra for it.
There's another example right there of them stealing from us.
There's another example right there of them stealing from us.
From a technical standpoint they aren't data, but you are correct in the sense that the cost of an SMS is incredibly disproportionate to the real cost of sending it.
Sending a text message uses about 1/20th of the network capacity that a 1 second phone call costs, yet the text message costs just as much or more than a 1 minute phone call.
SMS was designed to make use a part of the network that couldn't be used for phone calls.
I wasn't going to reply, but, well, here we go.
AT&T offers a service. They set the rules, and the pricing. It's your responsibility as a customer to decide if their rules and pricing fit your budget/lifestyle.
You don't DESERVE anything. You either do what AT&T says, or you find a different carrier.
Here's the deal: Tethering consumes a LOT more bandwidth than a phone. AT&T says you can have unlimited data on your PHONE, not on your laptop. If you want to tether, there's another price for that extra bandwidth. I don't see how that's unfair.
I don't understand why people think they can have it all for nothing. I bet these people steal music and don't consider it stealing because the artist technically didn't lose any money because the person wasn't going to buy it anyway. The fact is, you're listening to their music for free when everyone else has to pay for it. That's stealing.
</rant>
AT&T offers a service. They set the rules, and the pricing. It's your responsibility as a customer to decide if their rules and pricing fit your budget/lifestyle.
You don't DESERVE anything. You either do what AT&T says, or you find a different carrier.
Here's the deal: Tethering consumes a LOT more bandwidth than a phone. AT&T says you can have unlimited data on your PHONE, not on your laptop. If you want to tether, there's another price for that extra bandwidth. I don't see how that's unfair.
I don't understand why people think they can have it all for nothing. I bet these people steal music and don't consider it stealing because the artist technically didn't lose any money because the person wasn't going to buy it anyway. The fact is, you're listening to their music for free when everyone else has to pay for it. That's stealing.
</rant>
Umm... text is not data. Sorry. You can have no GPRS, EDGE or 3G and still send and receive text messages. It goes through the voice connection.
MMS is data and they don't charge you for it as long as you have a text plan.
I felt the same way about MP3s.
Why pay for the music industry to **** me over when o can **** IT over by downloading music on Napster?
Music has been screwing me since day one so I started stealing Ll the music. I already paid for my iPod so I'm not gonna pay for the songs too.
And look where the music industry is now.
I do what I want.
Why pay for the music industry to **** me over when o can **** IT over by downloading music on Napster?
Music has been screwing me since day one so I started stealing Ll the music. I already paid for my iPod so I'm not gonna pay for the songs too.
And look where the music industry is now.
I do what I want.
I pay for my music. I have converted nearly entirely into the iTunes buying model.
I jailbreak, and yet, I pay for my apps.
I do this because I am not a thief.
I pay for unlimited data, on a phone that includes that feature out of the box. AT&T crippled the feature, and using their monopoly position, said that if you want it turned back on, you will have to pay. Oh and by the way, you don't get anything extra for that charge either. You have to forfeit your unlimited plan, and no extra data is included.
In essence, by removing the capability, they have hacked my device without my permission. If I choose to hack the functionality back in, at the cost of my warranty, that's my choice to do so.
Personally, I don't tether, because I just don't need to.
If I needed it though, I would do it, and based on the reasoning that I have given, I wouldn't consider myself a thief.
I don't expect to change anyone's opinion on this, and you're not going to change mine.
I jailbreak, and yet, I pay for my apps.
I do this because I am not a thief.
I pay for unlimited data, on a phone that includes that feature out of the box. AT&T crippled the feature, and using their monopoly position, said that if you want it turned back on, you will have to pay. Oh and by the way, you don't get anything extra for that charge either. You have to forfeit your unlimited plan, and no extra data is included.
In essence, by removing the capability, they have hacked my device without my permission. If I choose to hack the functionality back in, at the cost of my warranty, that's my choice to do so.
Personally, I don't tether, because I just don't need to.
If I needed it though, I would do it, and based on the reasoning that I have given, I wouldn't consider myself a thief.
I don't expect to change anyone's opinion on this, and you're not going to change mine.
I agree that unlimited users should have to pay to tether for the reason you stated (but not $20.) But If you have the 2 GB data plan, you still have to pay AT&T for the privilege of tethering. You are using the exact same bandwidth, just in a different place. You shouldn't have to give them money to use bandwidth that you've already paid for.
There's a difference between law and justice, Legality and righteousness... therefore the dilemma... not even worth to debate over. Rules are to be followed AND broken. The invisible hand will eventually get this straightened out. 
Elaborate, because from my computer science prospective, all they do is charge $20 a month to flick a switch already built into the OS.
You still have to pay for the data you use, you still have to pay for overages. The only difference is now you are using that same data you are paying for on a different screen.
But do elaborate.
Yeah you should because that bandwidth AT*T is selling you does not include tethering.
If it did 2 gigs of data would cost $45 a month.
I know people are doing all these things to justify their stealing and immorality, but it is not that difficult to understand.
Since AT&T ONLY offers an add-on tethering option for limited data plans, it is crystal clear to anyone who is tethering any other way, that they are stealing. It is amusing though, to see just how little rationalization people need to use to do something like that.
I do appreciate the fact that some of you thieving monkeys want me to have to pay more for my service, even though I don't want tethering.
What this all boils down to is massive selfishness, and a massive, and unearned, sense of entitlement. It is all very juvenile. Shame on anyone over 25 making this kinds of rationalizations.
AT*T prices their services based on average utilization. People who use tethering use more bandwidth on average. That is why there is a seperate fee to get tethering. If they did lump it all in together, than 250 megs of data would be $30 a month and 2 gigs of data would be $45 a month. AT*T is allowed to determine the parameters of the service they are offering. You are not buying 2 gigs of data to do what you please. You are buying two gigs of data to use on your phone for things that do NOT include tethering. Nowhere in the TOS does AT*T say you can whatever you want whenever you want.
- Status