AT&T the new secret police of USA Corporations...

tacsniper · Oct 1, 2007

Just read this aritcle and I found this funny... how Americans are so proud of their freedom and you have a corporation pull this off...

AT&T has revised their Terms of Service in a manner that should horrify the consumer public. Usually such updates screw the customer subtly, but AT&T's new adjustment ironically pulls freedom of speech directly from those using AT&T's service to speak. In short, if you slam AT&T, they can pull your service:

AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes...(c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.
Of course, AT&T has overlooked one important fact about their TOS: they can't cancel a customer's service who will no longer do business with them anyway. Changes in TOS are often a loophole out of your contract. And if I were an AT&T customer, my choice would be pretty clear.

mac57 · Oct 1, 2007

This raises an interesting legal question. Service from any vendor is a privilege, not a right, so I presume they have the right to suspend that privilege. I am just not sure if the reasons they proffer are immune from legal challenge. I am not smart enough legally to know.

For example, could Dunkin Donuts refuse you admission to their stores if you stood in the stores and said damaging things about their products, true or not (just point out the fat and calorie content - ackkkk!)?

Perhaps this is a matter of AT&T protecting themselves from the use of their own facilities to slander them?

In the end though, it does look awfully open ended...

cheesybanana · Oct 1, 2007

mac57 said:
This raises an interesting legal question. Service from any vendor is a privilege, not a right, so I presume they have the right to suspend that privilege. I am just not sure if the reasons they proffer are immune from legal challenge. I am not smart enough legally to know.

True, but I can see a problem with this. Because of the nature of phone/internet services (ie. infrastructure costs), they often have monopolies in local areas. For example, if I want phone and internet service in my area, I MUST go with AT&T. The only other option is paying almost twice as much to switch to Time Warner. There really isn't a solution to this infrastructure problem.

Because AT&T is my only option, is it fair that they can limit my free speech on their network? It would be different in a competitive market, but this is not one.

I am also not a legal expert by any means, so...

bryphotoguy · Oct 1, 2007

That sounds like a pretty quick way to get out a contract. Say i was upset with their service, I could post a blog about ATT and they'd drop me? I assume since they are breaking the contact, I wouldn't have to pay the $175 early termination fee, right?

TheCustomer99 · Oct 1, 2007

Who is the source of this article? You didn't name one. That sounds a little far fetched that just knocking on the phone company will get your service terminated.

Zoolook · Oct 1, 2007

What is interesting is that the law protects service providers from the consequences of illegal activity on their networks. If AT&T sets a president of taking action on anyone 'harming' their business, then other companies could argue they should be afforded the same protection and pursue AT&T for damages if that doesn't happen.

This was mentioned on the ARS Technica site, and is an interesting point.

fleurya · Oct 1, 2007

TheCustomer99 said:
Who is the source of this article? You didn't name one. That sounds a little far fetched that just knocking on the phone company will get your service terminated.

I bet prior to Sprint kicking users for calling customer service too much, people would have thought that far-fetched also.

MinaMACMan · Oct 1, 2007

Here is a link to the article.

LINKY

TheCustomer99 · Oct 1, 2007

Well that sounds a little ridiculous if it isn't being misinterpreted. I'd like to hear AT&T's rationale for this.

fleurya · Oct 1, 2007

TheCustomer99 said:
Well that sounds a little ridiculous if it isn't being misinterpreted. I'd like to hear AT&T's rationale for this.

The key to misinterpretation is, interpretation. Just ask any lawyer or tax accountant.

technologist · Oct 1, 2007

Okay, so let's test this:

AT&T is a monopoly that takes advantage of its position to bundle its services and force consumers to subscribe to unwanted offerings.

That fits the bill, don't you think?

We'll see if I'm looking for a new ISP anytime soon.

(Actual, official, ATT page here:http://home.bellsouth.net/csbellsouth/s/s.dll?spage=cg/legal/att.htm&leg=tos)

Bill64 · Oct 1, 2007

The real incredible part of all of this is that you could call back in a month and start your service over...I doubt they keep records of this. I know it is possible with sprint to go right over to the store and get a new phone, discounts and all, and set up a new account. One of my friends had this happen to him. So what is the point? If I felt like sending out all of the messages that come with getting a new phone number, I would call and whine until they dropped me at least once a year, dependent on whether or not I wanted/needed a new phone....

tacsniper · Oct 1, 2007

actually how does that affect with privacy? Lets say you decided to talk on the phone with your friend and you start saying bad things about AT&T and they terminate your service... so doesn't that mean they are spying on your conversations?

WakeCarver · Oct 1, 2007

It looks to me like this does not apply to its phone/cellular service. I think this is only for DSL subscribers. This is probably more to stop illegal downloads of copy righted material than anything else IMO. I don't use AT&T DSL anyway because it is too slow.

thedood · Oct 1, 2007

fleurya said:
I bet prior to Sprint kicking users for calling customer service too much, people would have thought that far-fetched also.

Agreed.

As for AT&T DSL speeds, I have their Elite service and haven't noticed slower speeds than my previous ISP, Comcast Cable. Then again, according to a AT&T Tech, I am 870' ft from the box.