Verizon Bans P2P, Streaming Services and Online Gaming.
Written by enigmax on April 04, 2007They say that the devil is in the detail and to always read the small print. Well, if your ISP happens to be Verizon and you’re on the EVDO Wireless Data Service, this is great advice. Read their Terms of Service and you will see; P2P is banned, as are streaming services such as YouTube. And the ‘Unlimited’ transfers you were paying for? Forget those too, 5gig a month is the limit.
Verizon customers on the EVDO Wireless Data Service are in for a surprise if they read the Terms of Service (TOS)
The Unlimited Data Plan is - yes, thats right limited to 5gigs of transfers each month but don’t worry, you won’t need anywhere near that amount because your internet multimedia experience is about to be ruined by the banning of your favourite activities;
There is to be no continuous uploading nor downloading, no streaming (that means no YouTube for you to enjoy and no internet radio) and no playing games either, they’re banned too. No P2P is allowed whatsoever.
If you get caught going over your ‘Unlimited’ service’s cap of 5gig in one month, Verizon say that you will be “presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice”
So what is allowed then? Well Verizon says that you may still check your email and browse the Internet.
Have fun!
Verizon EVDO TOS
Unlimited Data Plans and Features may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes:
(i) Internet browsing;
(ii) email; and
(iii) intranet access
The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following:
(i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games;
(ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine,to,machine connections or peer,to,peer (P2P) file sharing; or
(iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections.
A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month. Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice. We also reserve the right to terminate service upon expiration of Customer Agreement term.
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54 Responses
That’s… Despicable
This is old news…
True, this was already in the TOS, they now added the bandwidth cap though.
Unbelievable.
I use 10gb p/month just on browsing.
Are these people US based?
where is this rubbish company?
will anyone use their service? for me, even if i dont use Internet, i wont use their services…
ernesto, are you sure they don’t mean “point zero zero five TB” instead of GB? :P
and if their TOS allow “downloading legally acquired songs” , what about the 3GB torrent from this texas thingy torrentfreak featured a while back; totally legal songs, and if you use Bitthief… ;-)
I don’t know what to say. Verizon’s move on this is out of wack, stupid, and extremely unreasonable.
I’m extremely satisfied with my ISP, 60gb total (30 up 30 down) per month.
They better change their plans or they will lose alot of customers and be cutting alot from the net.
What ISP?
Yes, this is in the States.
First off, it’s there service they can limit it how they see fit.
Second, this their Wireless Internet Service, it goes over the Wireless network that your cell phone uses, not their DSL service. You really shouldn’t be using a Wireless service like that for any of those activities anyways plus the speed isn’t much better then Dial-up in areas that are not in a big city or close to one.
i can again say this is true, i worked for bestbuy and the verizon people have no response to this other than poor attempts to deflect the question
Skins…a big fat bullshit on your statement. I mean, sure…you have NO life outside the internet which is sad, but you still don’t use 10 Gig just on browsing. It is impossible. Even for someone who never leaves their mommy’s basement to socialize…or maybe even have a GIRLFRIEND! (GASP!)
Geez.. this is just their answer to the fact their basically losing in the Net Neutrality battle…
Is Sprint the only decent-speed EVDO service that isn’t capped? You can’t even do VPN over Verizon. I wouldn’t go back to verizon if they were the last company on earth.
While it all sounds bad, brownsing youtube for “10 hours a day, 7 days a week” all month is more than enough than i would ever need on an EVDO enabled wireless device. I guess it sucks if you’re using an EVDO card on a laptop for wifi, but if its on a cellphone then it should be fine.
Give me a freaking Break, Like there are not allready enough rules in this damn country, No I am being told what I can and cant to by my internet provider. Go suck a big one Verizon!!!!!Oh and your wireless blows as well!!!
They might as well call it wireless 56K. Why becuase you really can’t game , stream, or use P2P with 56K you can really only surf the web and read your mail.
Good thing I don’t use Verizon. Canada FTW! :)
[quote comment="79410"]Unbelievable.
I use 10gb p/month just on browsing.
Are these people US based?[/quote]
i use around 10gb per day .. how the heck can a verizon user survive ?
The summary of the TOS of service isn’t very accurate. I did research on this for several customers who have accounts with Verizon. I went as far as to speak with some of their network engineers who understood the TOS correctly.
Althought the bandwidth cap is 5 GB, they do not outright ban things like YouTube. For example, YouTube is a form of streaming, but it is not continous. When you load up a video it downloads and that’s it. Verizon does not block your ability to stream music, video or anything else. I do believe they block the ports for VoIP (this never came up) but VPN access is allowed. The only limitation is that you stay within their agreements such as not downloading more than 200 MB/hr.
Do I like the service? Yes, it’s fast. Do I use the service? No, Spring offers the same speeds with less restrictions and for a slightly cheaper price.
My ISP gives me 24Mbit/s down and 1Mbit/s down. That totals:
- 60 TB download per month
- 2.5 TB upload per month
I love Sweden! FUCK USA ISPs
“You really shouldn’t be using a Wireless service like that for any of those activities”…?
I’m in Manila, Philippines right now, using wireless broadband. Bandwidth is not that big, but I’m clocking my P2P sharing at 1MB per minute or 60MB’s per hour. That’s aside from the occasional chat / email / browse I do. And NO ISP here has a service cap! haha :p
@ Adam: Yes, ADSL2+ rocks! ;)
I use Verizon EVDO and haven’t had any problems at all.. I use it on my phone, as well as connecting to my laptop via bluetooth and using it as a wireless modem.. I’ve checked out YouTube, and just now even went to ABC.com and watched the first 5 minutes of a show using it. That would seem like continuous streaming to me… We’ll see if they can my service..
As to others that are talking about their bandwidth up and down, you don’t realize that this is speaking of wireless internet for mobile devices (mobile phones, pda’s, and some PCMCIA cards), this isn’t Verizon’s home internet plans (FIOS, which i also have and love, and DSL). This also isn’t a part of any neighborhood/city wide wireless internet services.
And I agree with the others, if you’re hitting more than 5 Gigabits per month, you’re doing something crazy with your mobile device. To use 5 Gb/month would mean that you would need to be transferring about 400b every second of the entire month. 400b isn’t very much, but to average that on a mobile device the entire month is a tremendous amount.
Hey Adam, my ISP gives me 30 Mbit/s down , 5 Mbit/s up, and I live in the USA.
So…fuck swedish ISPs I guess.
^^ you wont be saying that when the MIAA/RIAA come knocking on your door.
They have no powers in Sweden.
Ha,
You know, theres a lot to be said for cable, my ISP is Virgin Media/Telewest/NTL, I have completely unlimited service and have had this for years, no limits whatsoever, I can download what I like. I am on 10mb atm which gives me roughly 1.2mb per second at top download speed, soon this speed will rise :D
I wouldn’t use a wireless system anyways, too open to abuse
[quote comment="79685"]Ha,
You know, theres a lot to be said for cable, my ISP is Virgin Media/Telewest/NTL, I have completely unlimited service and have had this for years, no limits whatsoever, I can download what I like. I am on 10mb atm which gives me roughly 1.2mb per second at top download speed, soon this speed will rise :D
I wouldn’t use a wireless system anyways, too open to abuse[/quote]
Oh yeah and I probably download about 5GB in a day or so, verizon would love me wouldn’t they? LOL
Serves you right.
If you want to download music or play online games you can very well pay the price.
Why should others or your employer at work subsdize you .
http://www.aceemploymentservices.net
Finally an easy way to get out of a Verizon contract!
I use Verizon’s wireless data service.
I would hope the cost of the service would come down at some point. As a business owner myself, I can see that Verizon would need to set some limits to keep their service affordable and competitive. I would probably do the same thing in an effort to lower my prices at some point. The technology is not cheap, and bandwidth is not free.
Bottom line is, if you are using more than 2-3g per month, you are most likely using their service to steal other peoples products. I don’t believe this service was ever intended to be used as a primary connection to the net. It was to facilitate better connectivity for your laptop while you are on the road.
If you ever want the prices to come down, you will have to live with some limitations. I say, keeping people from stealing other peoples creative works is a good place to start.
IMHO
John :^)
Verizon fuckin sucks,
everyone who has ANY Verizon services
should CANCEL them IMMEDIATELY!!!
don’t give those dirtbags your money!
Verizon with it’s proprietary software and caps on services sucks.
I switched away from this terrible company because i hate how they propagate their cellphones with stupid software and make them all unified. Also the fact that their cellphones are locked and you are not able to easily change from handset to handset.
This company is greedy and very pro-greed and anti-user.
Verizon is a giant shit. We all know this.
is this for the cell phones or their dsl becuase i have there dsl service and have downloaded files over 4gb and have not had anything done to my service just wonder what one it is
I speak from experience: Verizon cancelled my EVDO service without warning because I went over the cap.
I download CD iso images. For example, Ubuntu Linux, SimplyMEPIS Linux. This is enough to push Verizon over the limit, and enough for them to cancel the service– even though the use was fine according to the Verizon contract.
Sounds like a bunch of whinners that want everything their way, If you don’t like the rules…Go somewhere else.
Poor USA customers, that sucks, I use more than 400GB per month. The only limit I have is my capacity to store everything, I don’t have enough Terabytes.
Wireless first, fios next? My slingbox worked before for remote viewing, and stopped working this past month. thought I’m not sure it’s ’cause of a V. block, I’m wondering if they’ll implement that in the future for FIOS.
Further, some of V.’s FIOS tv stuff is Microsoft based, and I susect uses strong DRM.
It’s for cellphones (or stuff hooked to
cellphones).
Geez.
As a former tech-service call center employee from a company that used Verizon’s network (but wasn’t Verizon), I can tell you guys that EVERYONE at Verizon is a FUCKING CUNT.
Just try getting their RCMC to fucking answer any questions or actually do their fucking work.
Those fuckers are worthless.
Punctuation, people, please!
…and nobody really cares about YHO. If half of you actually read the previous posts, your pointless ramblings and stupid questions would be satisfied, and then we wouldn’t have to try to decipher your cryptic syntax bullshit.
Someone should ban 14 year olds from owning computers.
[quote comment="81284"]Poor USA customers, that sucks, I use more than 400GB per month. The only limit I have is my capacity to store everything, I don’t have enough Terabytes.[/quote]
@Someone, so happy your fascist government apparently gives you T1 lines to appease you. So sad that you succumb to their strategy, and have no life away from your computer. Even sadder you can’t do math. 400GB per month means you have a 300MBps pipeline, full on 24/7. um, no. If that’s true, you are a) The military, b) Most certainly stealing, or c) 14 (see my previous post)
[quote comment="79764"]Serves you right.
If you want to download music or play online games you can very well pay the price.
Why should others or your employer at work subsdize you .
http://www.aceemploymentservices.net/quote
hello mr. its fucking 50 dollars a month thats the same as uncapped cable service coming into my house
[quote comment="80049"]I speak from experience: Verizon cancelled my EVDO service without warning because I went over the cap.
[/quote]
Joel, did you have to pay the early termination fee when they cancelled your contract? I very much want to ditch Verizon but shudder to think of paying them another $200 to cancel the contract!
For those who get terminated by this Verizon crap:
Just make sure that you put your service on a credit card when you paid for the service. Don’t bother with sending in a check. And when Verizon terminates your “unlimited” service and automatically bill your credit card for it, simply issue a chargeback against it. This hurts Verizon because they have to pay what’s called a “chargeback fee”.
Credit card companies tend to be pretty biased towards their own customers. Yep, that means you and me, the “little guys.” All you’ve got to do is show them that Verizon advertises the service as “unlimited” and then decided to “limit” it, and boom, Verizon loses. You get your money back, and you end up costing Verizon a little money in the process.
This is a tool to use when you *need* it. It’s like Mr. Miyagi said about karate–it’s for self-defense *only*. DO NOT ABUSE IT!
[quote]Even sadder you can’t do math. 400GB per month means you have a 300MBps pipeline, full on 24/7. um, no. If that’s true, you are a) The military, b) Most certainly stealing, or c) 14 (see my previous post)[/quote]
LOL STFU, you have no clue what you are talking about. I have an 8mbps pipe and I easily put down 100GB/mo, only downloading for 2-3 hours a day.
8mbps = 1000kB/s = 3.6GB/hr
400GB could be downloaded in 4.62 days. Again, STFU you trolling retard.
I did not renew Verizon as my wireless. I went with another company instead. I also cancelled my land line service with Verizon last week. So there….take that!
I didn’t read the fine print when I got FiOS, and was ticked off to find they blocked inbound SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS, etc. This week, they started blocking torrents. Since my cell phone has web access, I’m not sure why I need FiOS at home if all they are going to let me do is look at web pages - THEY SUCK !!! I might was well have bough Microsoft’s internet TV or that “webmail station” if that’s all FiOS is going to allow. Are there any real ISO’s out there that don’t mind giving you internet services, not just the 3rd grade version?
n
n
nnnn n you Verizon !!!
nnnnnn
nnn
The foul language detracts from the credibility of the information. I certainly agree that Verizon is abusive and their policies are usury. But all the four letter words simply indicate a lack of vocabulary.
I Think,Ä°t is very nice information…
Hitchhiker Nation
Verizon can pretty much kiss this service goodbye. Everyone is using Sprint. My friend was stupid enough to sign up for the Verizon thingy, this was before he knew Sprint had it also. Anyway, it was supposed to be 59.99 a month for 5 gb. If you go over it is 50 cents for every mb. He received his second bill and it was $1,760.00. I kid you not! LOL!!! Needless to say he reported them to the Attorney General’s Office, Department of Consumer Affairs and the FCC. They canceled his contract without incident or penalty. He said to them…”Yeah, that’s what I thought you were gonna say”! My friend doesn’t fu&* around! So a warning to everyone. DON’T EVER USE VERIZON WIRELESS SERVICES! Oh, and their cell phone service sucks too.
[quote comment="171126"]I did not renew Verizon as my wireless. I went with another company instead. I also cancelled my land line service with Verizon last week. So there….take that![/quote]
As the Emperor in Star Wars would say, “GOOD…GOOD!”
Thanks for tip, if it werent for u I would have made a mistake
I have Verizon and this isn’t how it works for me.
http://streamsoftblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/spikes-new-move-with-limewire.html
Here, at Streamsoft, we always like to hear about innovative P2P moves. Michael Iron, the founder of Streamsoft , entered the P2P video field because of its constant innovations and progress. The Viacom-owned cable network Spike seems to be going one important step beyond its peers in its efforts to build an audience. Not only is it making the first episode of the new series “Factory” available in advance on its website and through downloadable video stores, it’s also trying to spread it through Limewire and other file-sharing networks. Without DRM, or seemingly any form of copy protection.
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