AT&T tweaks wireless terms of service to forbid video streaming, filesharing, data tethering
By Nilay Patel 
posted Apr 3rd 2009 12:24PM
posted Apr 3rd 2009 12:24PM
Looks like AT&T's taking some aggressive steps to manage network traffic now that it's offering subsidized netbooks -- the carrier updated its data plan terms of service last night to specifically single out and prohibit "downloading movies using P2P file sharing services, customer initiated redirection of television or other video or audio signals via any technology from a fixed location to a mobile device, web broadcasting, and... any applications that tether the device... to Personal Computers or other equipment." That's an impressively strict set of rules that seemingly bans a number of apps AT&T customers are already using without complaint -- everything from SlingPlayer to Qik to Skype to Jaikuspot -- so we'll see if the company is really so tone-deaf as to try and retroactively prohibit their use, or if it'll just ignore what it can't possibly enforce. We've pinged AT&T for comment, we'll let you know what they say.P.S.- It's not just AT&T struggling to keep up with how people actually use its network -- Deutsche Telekom today threatened to cut off German T-Mobile customers who dare to use Skype. Nice. Can someone give all these guys some new ideas, please?
[Via GigaOm]
Are these the sort of changes that could force AT&T to let customers out of their contracts w/o ETFs?
700mhz can't come soon enough
This is AT&T learning from Comcast. Fictional AT&T rep: "Yes we're throttling/blocking P2P traffic, but it's okay, because we secretly added that 'service' to the terms of your contract months ago..."
Thanks At&t. I now know that come June, I'm leaving you.
when the internet in states become as restrictive as most Communist or extremely religious countries?!
I wanted to join ATT, but no thanks now
why don't you fix your infrastructure weakenss?!
I want to know the answer to Wordsmith's question too! Hopefully this means we can terminate service without an ETF!
Can I continue to tether and I will just be in violation of my service agreement or are they physically blocking tethering capabilities?
So does this mean that by using the YouTube player on my iPhone I am violating the terms of service if I am not connected to WiFi?
Good question. AT&T needs to clarify what they're going to do with all the apps already approved that now violate their terms of service. I asked below how can people even use the Slingbox app now. Is everything going to have to be wifi?
That's an odd move for AT&T to make. VZW used to have a similar policy, but faced with distaste from consumers and difficulty enforcing it, the company abandoned the policy about a year ago. This almost like going backwards, in terms of comparing AT&T to the industry as a whole.
Pathetic timing...
Well, sounds like slingbox over 3g is a gonna be a no go. Amazing how At&t would change their terms right after the app was submitted to apple...took them just over a week to make it technically a violation of their terms.
What a sick joke. Not that I'm surprised. Honestly, when will companies like Youtube, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft/Xbox start lobbying to quit this bandwidth throttling because it WILL hurt their services. I mean honestly, do you know how quick you can run through a 50GB cap on Time Warner if you use ANY form of HD ANYTHING, be it apple rentals, apple HD movie purchases, streaming HD, software downloads, upgrade patches, service packs, etc??? Companies like ATT who are data/voice backbones (and resell their lines etc), should be prohibited from being ISP's or wireless companies because they have HUGE conflicts of interest. Time Warner (of which I am with but loathe) will let you rack up $200 a month in HD video rentals with them all day long all year long, but as soon as you start doing something like watching HULU or Youtube or Apple HD rentals/purchases, the cap limit is their magic wand. It's sickening and it's just like Gizmodo said a couple days ago, the "death of the internet". Any of these companies who tout "unlimited" should be dealt a painful monetary blow in court so show just how untruthful their ads really are. And don't get me started on the "more bars, more places" crap and "fewest dropped calls". A venture capitalist should start a wireless and broadband internet company who touts "unlimited everything, no matter WHAT you do with our service". I don't care if it's 100 dollars per month for just internet, charge what you want to charge but make it unlimited and free from hassle.....
Just saw this...
http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/04/03/fcc-asked-to-probe-iphones-skype-restrictions/?source=yahoo_quote
i was wondering how long it would take for this to come along...
Does this honestly surprise anyone?
Seriously, when are we going separate the ISPs from the service providers to inject more competition and consumer choice into a profit obese market? You should be able to choose your data provider based on coverage, speed and price and then go and choose your telephone, television, or other service provider from a competitor if you like. With these policies it's either you use the carrier's telephone service or you don't use telephone service at all, which is anti-competitive and a monopoly within a distinct market. Maybe the government should start it's own shipping company and outright ban any other shipping company from using our roads.
So AT&T finally grew a pair! They've been out of their minds to not crack down hard on this type of high-bandwidth activity earlier, which drastically stresses their already overwhelmed 3G network. The dirty little secret of 3G (and 4G) is that the U.S. carriers currently do not have REMOTELY enough (expensive) backhaul bandwidth in place on their thousands of towers to support heavy data usage, particular anything to do with video. A bunch of users streaming Slingbox off a tower can knock its throughput dead if they don't have heavy traffic-shaping implemented.
So how is the Sling Player app just submitted for iPhone going to work?
So it's the customer's fault that AT&T's network sucks so bad that it can't handle basic video streaming like Slingbox while plenty of other carriers like Sprint and Verizon have thier very own streaming services? Right... I can't tell you how happy I am that my AT&T contract is almost up.
What the real problem here is AT&T allowed and even officially approved these types of services and now they claim it's prohibited. They have a TV/video/music service of their own on quite a few phones, and they allow all kinds of iPhone apps to stream video. So if the network is stressed, it's their fault actually because they admitted they didn't anticipate heavy iPhone usage to drag down the network. They should have known this though. Don't they have people who access the market?
Their network indeed isn't up to par, but then why develop and/or allow all these TV and radio stream apps in the first place with no restrictions except that you must have(or should have) an unlimited data plan? And NOW they want to restrict, yet still approving ANOTHER app to drain the network?
This is a big deal everyone!
If you enjoy using your connection on ATT to do whatever you like within your data plan limits then complain. The only way to get this changed is to get a bunch of people to let ATT know we aren't happen with this. This is total bullsh*t!!!
well. this is breach of contract on their part. fine by me cause now it gives me an out to get the palm pre w/o paying the etf
From what I'm reading, I'm assuming this only prevents use over the 3G network, not over WiFi. If these apps work over WiFi as well, if not better than they work over 3G, what's the big deal. Too much crying over something that the 3G network was never intended for in the first place...
The iPhone apps will work over wifi. But you know all those 3G-only TV enabled phones AT&T sells? Streaming is forbidden, but I'm going to bet NOT on their services, LOL!
Bah, I'm reading the AT&T terms of service, and it doesn't look like
this can be used as an out, since it doesn't "increase the price of
any of the services to which you subscribe beyond the limits set
forth in your rate plan brochure", or "materially decrease the
geographical area in which your airtime rate applies". Here's the
full text:
CHANGES TO TERMS AND RATES
We may change any terms, conditions, rates, fees, expenses, or
charges regarding your service at any time. We will provide you with
notice of such changes (other than changes to governmental fees,
proportional charges for governmental mandates, roaming rates or
administrative charges) either in your monthly bill or separately.
You understand and agree that State and Federal Universal Service
Fees and other governmentally imposed fees, whether or not assessed
directly upon you, may be increased based upon the government's or
our calculations. IF WE INCREASE THE PRICE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES TO
WHICH YOU SUBSCRIBE, BEYOND THE LIMITS SET FORTH IN YOUR RATE PLAN
BROCHURE, OR IF WE MATERIALLY DECREASE THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA IN WHICH
YOUR AIRTIME RATE APPLIES (OTHER THAN A TEMPORARY DECREASE FOR REPAIRS
OR MAINTENANCE), WE WILL DISCLOSE THE CHANGE AT LEAST ONE BILLING
CYCLE IN ADVANCE (EITHER THROUGH A NOTICE WITH YOUR BILL, A TEXT
MESSAGE TO YOUR DEVICE, OR OTHERWISE), AND YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS
AGREEMENT WITHOUT PAYING AN EARLY TERMINATION FEE OR RETURNING OR
PAYING FOR ANY PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, PROVIDED YOUR NOTICE OF TERMINATION
IS DELIVERED TO US WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE FIRST BILL
REFLECTING THE CHANGE. If you lose your eligibility for a particular
rate plan, we may change your rate plan to one for which you qualify.
What about removal of services previously allowed by AT&T, but you're still paying the same high price? IMO that's material enough.
I would assume that'd do it, but I don't know if the things they are banning are technically termed "services". They were permitted, but weren't written into the contract language. I would love to see what AT&T has to say about this. I would hope Engadget can get a concrete answer on this for us. Hopefully someone's reading the posts!
I posted above about the services they did officially allow on both the iPhone and their other TV enabled phones. Even Slingbox is now official. Qik is another. What are they going to do about the contradictions? I think the terms of service are ambiguous because how they can have it both ways is confusing. Legally an ambiguous contract is supposed to be judged against the party who wrote the contract.
I agree with what you're saying, but from a more careful study of the contract it appears AT&T does not. Here's what I found:
Changes to the terms and conditions: These terms and conditions may be changed from time-to-time. AT&T will post the most current version of these terms and conditions at att.com/MediaTerms or other appropriate location. Please check these regularly to inform yourself about changes to the terms and conditions.
It looks like they get to change the terms and conditions all they want without any repercussions.
I did, however, find this:
The parties agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 gigabytes in a month. Prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your service.
So if you want to cancel with AT&T and have data service, just use more than 5 GB in a month, and when they try to charges you more, cancel.
Honestly it all sucks. I would terminate my contract, but the new ETF policy doesn't apply to me because we signed our contract in July 2007. I've been looking for a way to get out, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen.
How many people check that obscure location regularly? I didn't even know until I came on these boards. Many people don't even look at Engadget and the like. I think that if they don't TRULY inform the customer(as in a new email or send to phone), that also makes the contract changes questionable, because people can't agree to what they never got informed of. Changing the contract and hoping most customers won't notice or know, very sneaky IMO.
I completely agree, and that's why I hope the changes allow the ETF to be dropped.
According to my ATT bill, I've used up 2.1GB on my $15 unlimited dataplan. Niiiice! Screw the Terms of Agreements. I'd like to see ATTenforce this crap.
The douchebags are afraid of how popular said programs are and hate the fact they are not getting some revenue from it. what the hell is the reason for 3g on your phone anyway then ..I could read news using freaking edge... Isn't mobi TV in violation of the agreement.. or most of the Damn apps for the Iphone.. nice move at&T. FYI the web is a multimedia experience.. otherwise whats the point.
I think what we are seeing here with AT&T changing their data terms is conforming to some of the other carriers. Most carriers do not give you the ability to use as many third party apps and this is for security on their devices as well as some of these apps can change the settings and cause problems.
Clearly shown in the snip of contract from BRAD that changing the Price is the only action shown that will allow you to get out of your contract. Changing the conditions however will not.
The only way to "boycott" against these actions is to not use the data services at all. Believe me these carriers are depending on these services. (i should know i worked at Verizon Wireless for 2 years).
Worse comes to worse we all know that an action like this could bring about a Class Action lawsuit and most carriers tend to not want those.
HAHA...
Sike! Courtesy of AT&T.
This is another example of the old school tyrants feeling very threatenedd bythe economy where new ideas are absolutely vital to your success. These monopolies are being threatened on every level and all they can think to do is make their custmers angry. It really ticks me off since I am a recent At&t customer for the Iphone.
Http://twitter.com/brianclayville
It seems that most of you fail to see something here. It is in the TOS that you can end service w/o a ETF. "IF WE INCREASE THE PRICE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES TO WHICH YOU SUBSCRIBE, BEYOND THE LIMITS SET FORTH IN YOUR RATE PLAN
BROCHURE," When the set a bandwidth cap they will in essence change the price of a service you have subscribed to. You have the "UNLIMITED DATA PLAN" they have now changed that to a capped amount by putting restriction that prevent the said unlimited portion of that plan. Therefor changing the price in essence. You are now paying the same for less. I am a hundred percent sure this way of thought will succeed in court. Just imagine; 100,000 angry customers being represented in court in front of a jury of their peers. Testifying against AT&T for unjustly requesting a ETF and reporting a non-payment on your credit. If (when) you win in court AT&T will have to pay a hefty fine in punitive damages towards everyone s credit and pay to have the credit issue rectified. AT&T I hope is smart enough to see that this is a losing battle if they try and get a ETF.