Fairpoint Pledges To Violate Net Neutrality

wytcld writes "Fairpoint Communications, which has taken over Verizon's landline business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, has announced that on February 6, 'AOL, Yahoo! and MSN subscribers will continue to have access to content but will no longer be able to access their e-mail through the third-party Web site. Instead, Yahoo! and other third-party e-mail will be accessed directly at the MyFairPoint.net portal.' Since Verizon spun off its lines to Fairpoint in a maneuver that got debt off of Verizon's balance sheets by saddling Fairpoint with it, there was concern by the public service boards of the three states about how Fairpoint would deal with that debt. Fairpoint's profit plan: force all Webmail users through Fairpoint's portal, by blocking all direct access to Webmail portals other than its own. Will Fairpoint's own search engine portal be next? What can stop them?"

Comments

Good thing

[dreampod]

I think that ultimately this is good for the case for Net Neutrality. It is a blatant move that blocks access rather than slowing it which will provoke an outcry even from the computer illiterate. This gives a real world example of what can happen without Net Neutrality to hit back against tiered internet supporters who claim that there will be no real downsides if we allow companies to boost their bottom lines at the expense of consumers.

Re:what can stop them

[Repossessed]

How many of their customers are in areas with only one non dialup provider?

I doubt this will last though, Fairpoint isn't big enough to stand up against MSFT's legal department, and the Tier 1 contract probably requires them to be a neutral provider.

Re:I live in Vermont and have Fairpoint

[Skapare]

Yahoo!, AOL and MSN or Other Third-Party Portal Users

On Jan 31, 2009, you'll still have access to Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN content, but you'll no longer be able to access your email directly through the third-party portal. Instead, you'll now have access to the new MyFairPoint.net portal.

If you were using the VERIZON third-party portal to access your email that is located at Yahoo!, AOL and/or MSN ... since you are no longer a customer of VERIZON, and instead are now a customer of FAIRPOINT, third-party access mechanism is now through FAIRPOINT's service. In other words, Fairpoint is going to be providing a similar kind of service that Verizon did.

I'm sure there will be problems for people with email addresses "@verizon.net". There should not be problems for people using other email addresses. I see nothing in this that says people cannot go to Yahoo!, AOL, or MSN directly for email address originally established through those providers (e.g. youremailaddress@aol.com). If such email accounts were previously restricted such that they could ONLY be accessed via the VERIZON web site, I could understand them being similarly restricted to the FAIRPOINT website. But as for people having their email addresses changed, I can't see that affecting anyone other than those who have an "@verizon.net" address.