Verizon Changes FiOS AUP, -1, Offtopic

RasputinAXP writes "Verizon has changed their FiOS AUP effective yesterday, and added an interesting new clause to their specific examples that we're all familiar with: 'it is a violation of the Agreement and this AUP to ... post off-topic information on message boards, chat rooms or social networking sites.' At this point, every FiOS-based Slashdot user is breaking the new AUP."

Comments

Re:My first hand experience on Modern Warfare 2

[realisticradical]

Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango?

Re:lol

[The Archon V2.0]

do i even need to bring up the constitution here? free speech anyone?

Since it's a corporation, it's not bound by the First Amendment.

Hey, wait, that means bringing up the Constitution is off topic.

Very good.

Re:I'm Not!

[Kjella]

Seriously though - how are they going to enforce this without reading the information I'm sending over the net. Shouldn't that be Illegal?

Honestly, they don't care as long as you pay and nobody complains. This is just another case where if they get complaints from someone, they can terminate you for ToS violation. In reality, not much has changed - have you read some of them? There's usually enough insane terms to terminate anyone, any time anyway. This is just adding one more possible excuse to put on the termination notice.

Re:Star Destroyer Vs. Borg Cube?

[MalleusEBHC]

The star destroyer was neither a star nor a destroyer. Discuss.

Re:Part (b) : "flaming"

[oenone.ablaze]

Actually, I suspect that it's because Verizon just cares about what's going on in _their_ forums, and they included that clause so they could terminate the internet service of complainers / trolls in their forums without saying so explicitly. That's what I would do, if I were a myopic, profit-maximizing natural monopoly.

Re:Why they may have done so

[Chyeld]

If you read the whole section, it's a list of examples of what they consider to be violations of Section 1. Someone just got diarrhea of the fingers and started listing all the ways to misbehave online. They even include flaming.

The takeaway is Verizon is attempting to say that if you act out in any manner whatsoever, do anything they don't like, or just get on the wrong side of one of their IT folk, your service is dead. Overbroad is an understatement. This is them writing a blank check to themselves to allow them to do whatever they want, whenever they want.

1. General Policy: Verizon reserves the sole discretion to deny or restrict your Service, or immediately to suspend or terminate your Service, if the use of your Service by you or anyone using it, in our sole discretion, violates the Agreement or other Verizon policies, is objectionable or unlawful, interferes with the functioning or use of the Internet or the Verizon network by Verizon or other users, or violates the terms of this Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP").
2. Specific Examples of AUP Violations. The following are examples of conduct which may lead to termination of your Service. Without limiting the general policy in Section 1, it is a violation of the Agreement and this AUP to: (a) access without permission or right the accounts or computer systems of others, to spoof the URL, DNS or IP addresses of Verizon or any other entity, or to penetrate the security measures of Verizon or any other person's computer system, or to attempt any of the foregoing; (b) transmit uninvited communications, data or information, or engage in other similar activities, including without limitation, "spamming", "flaming" or denial of service attacks; (c) intercept, interfere with or redirect email or other transmissions sent by or to others; (d) introduce viruses, worms, harmful code or Trojan horses on the Internet; (e) post off-topic information on message boards, chat rooms or social networking sites; (f) engage in conduct that is defamatory, fraudulent, obscene or deceptive; (g) violate Verizon's or any third party's copyright, trademark, proprietary or other intellectual property rights; (h) engage in any conduct harmful to the Verizon network, the Internet generally or other Internet users; (i) generate excessive amounts of email or other Internet traffic; (j) use the Service to violate any rule, policy or guideline of Verizon; (k) use the service in any fashion for the transmission or dissemination of images containing child pornography or in a manner that is obscene, sexually explicit, cruel or racist in nature or which espouses, promotes or incites bigotry, hatred or racism; or (l) use the Service in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria or any other E:1 Country as designated by the Department of Commerce.

To cover the fanfic requirement:

DOOM: Repercussions of Evil

John Stalvern waited. The lights above him blinked and sparked out of the air. There were demons in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
John was a space marine for fourteen years. When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy."
Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS"
There was a time when he believed him. Then as he got oldered he stopped. But now in the space station base of the UAC he knew there were demons.
"This is Joson" the radio crackered. "You must fight the demons!"
So John gotted his palsma rifle and blew up the wall.
"HE GOING TO KILL US" said the demons
"I will shoot at him" said the cyberdemon and he fired the rocket missiles. John plasmaed at him and tried to blew him up. But then the ceiling fell and they were trapped and not able to kill.
"No! I must kill the demons" he shouted
The radio said "No, John. You are the demons"
And then John was a zombie.