Re: Comcast, Verizon Wage Licensing War/Towns Caught in Crossfire

In article , Kinon O'cann FOIS, but cancelled when I learned that Verizon blocks many incoming

ports, and although I can re-direct web and FTP traffic to other > ports, that's a game I'd rather not play. Verizon can also block other > ports, once they detect activity they don't like. I cancelled. I don't > understand this behavior by Verizon at all. The relationship betwenn > the customer and Verizon should be deadly simple: I pay for a > connection, and then use it however I want (like I do now). Verizon > limits speeds up and down, and that's their way of controlling network > saturation. Then I learned they don't allow servers, either. What a > joke. I pay for a connection, and they determine how I use it? No > chance. Wake up, Verizon!

While Comcast may not block ports (yet), their terms-of-service do forbid the operation of servers. Though luckily for many people I know, they don't seem to enforce it.

It is possible to get an unrestricted FIOS connection. You simply have to step up to the business package for $99/mo. On the plus side, that also gives you 5 fixed IP addresses. Yeah, I think that sucks, too.

I'm expecting to not have much choice in the matter. The Feds have given the phone companies the right to pull the plug on independent ISP's in a year, which would force all of us to either Comcast or the phone company's offering.

John Meissen snipped-for-privacy@aracnet.com