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AT&T Suffers Another Blow In Court Over Throttling of 'Unlimited' Data (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A federal judge has revived a lawsuit that angry customers filed against AT&T over the company's throttling of unlimited mobile data plans. The decision comes two years after the same judge decided that customers could only have their complaints heard individually in arbitration instead of in a class-action lawsuit. The 2016 ruling in AT&T's favor was affirmed by a federal appeals court. But the customers subsequently filed a motion to reconsider the arbitration decision, saying that an April 2017 decision by the California Supreme Court "constitutes a change in law occurring after the Courts arbitration order," Judge Edward Chen of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said in the new ruling issued last week. The state Supreme Court "held that an arbitration agreement that waives the right to seek the statutory remedy of public injunctive relief in any forum is contrary to California public policy and therefore unenforceable," Chen wrote.

AT&T argued that the court shouldn't consider the new argument, saying that plaintiffs raised it too late. The plaintiffs could have made the same argument before the April 2017 Supreme Court ruling, since the ruling was based on California laws that "were enacted decades ago," according to AT&T. Chen was not persuaded, noting that "there had been no favorable court rulings" the plaintiffs could have cited earlier in the case. "The Court also finds that Plaintiffs acted with reasonable diligence once there was a ruling favorable to them," Chen wrote. As a result, the plaintiffs can now proceed with their case in U.S. District Court against AT&T. However, AT&T will appeal Chen's latest decision, presumably in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

40 comments

  1. Unlimited amounts of wtf by rogoshen1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Stop calling plans with limits 'unlimited'.

    Throttling, data-caps, whatever else are still limits.

    1. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But who's going to make them stop?

      The government? *froth* *froth* communism *froth* *froth* Venezuela *froth* *froth*.

      There you go, cayenne8 & roman_mir. You can take the rest of the day off.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 0

      Even with throttling, it's still unlimited data.

      It's not called unlimited data at the maximum speed 24/7 as if you were the only person on the planet plan.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well then, at least you two agree that AT&T should stop calling their plans 'unlimited'.

    4. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. But please punish AT&T. A company that lies is no good for society. Just take all its assets and auction them off to other companies. Oh, and throw management in jail. Please.

    5. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what - anyone who thinks they can get something for free to infinity is an idiot or an asshole.

    6. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I bet you're a real barrel of monkeys at parties. Of course fucking physics is going to place an upper bound on what people can use. At issue though is AT&T placing artificial limits on a so-called unlimited plan.

      Save your pedantry for debates with Spock; for the rest of us just use a little freakin' common sense.

    7. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by RazorSharp · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But the limit should be how much data your phone can process, not how much data AT&T can deliver. That's what "unlimited data" means to the customers they're advertising to. AT&T knows that's what their customers think they're getting when they advertise "unlimited data," so it's incumbent upon them to deliver what they're advertising.

      There no difference between pedantry and fraud when the point of the pedantry is to deceive.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    8. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by bobbied · · Score: 1

      I'm not arguing about the common understanding of what "unlimited data" means. I agree, "unlimited" should mean that as much data as your device can consume with no artificial limits placed on the data transfer speed for your device...

      What I was pointing out is the original posts description of "unlimited" wasn't exactly a good one.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    9. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you can get 15Mbit/sec then it slows to 0.03 for no apparent reason other than the company's algorithms, this is the issue. The latter speed is virtually unusable for any kind of service.

    10. Re: Unlimited amounts of wtf by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 1

      Well, thereâ(TM)s an easy solution for that. First, stop using âoeunlimitedâ in the ads. Second, sell me a guaranteed and burst nitrate... none of this âoeup to 50Mbpsâ crap when Iâ(TM)m really just barely getting ISDN equivalence. Third, frack off about how, when, where, and why I use it. I neither need nor want another parent; just a dumb pipe to the internet.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    11. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Yes thats the only way. Call it 100gb, 500gb, 10tb. So the user will know and its all ok.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    12. Re: Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is why I stopped using GoPhone prepaid. When you use too much data AT&T doesn't just bill you a little more and give you more data, they slow you down to 100 kilobits per second Max, so slow that most apps on my phone would register as offline and refuse to do anything

    13. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There you go, cayenne8 & roman_mir. You can take the rest of the day off.

      My son, I hope you are charging them rent for the space they occupy in your head, since I don't even see them on this thread.

    14. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe that's because they took the day off?

    15. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My son, I hope you are charging them rent for the space they occupy in your head, since I don't even see them on this thread.

      I hope you're charging them rent for the space they occupy in your hind quarters.

    16. Re:Unlimited amounts of wtf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      when you're right, you're right.

  2. It called ME TWICE TODAY! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF! Go away!

  3. How much you want to bet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After its all said and done. AT&T gets hit with a slap on the wrist fine. Fine em $12, that'll teach em not to do it again.

    1. Re:How much you want to bet by rwise2112 · · Score: 1

      After its all said and done. AT&T gets hit with a slap on the wrist fine. Fine em $12, that'll teach em not to do it again.

      And even if it's 12 Million, AT&T at the end of the year will review its finances and say "We didn't make as much profit this year! Looks like we need to raise our rates to compensate."

      --

      "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
  4. Re:Another liberal judge making law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The exact problem is - you cannot PAY for an unlimited plan which is truly unlimited. I understand your rage against those who may use more than you feel is their rationed share, but it's a fact - the users who might WANT to pay their fair share cannot. No carrier offers what they would like to have. At best, the carriers offer EVERYONE unlimited and limit it.

  5. Re:Another liberal judge making law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's be honest here. Nobody wants to pay for it.

    And Google Fi offers all you can eat. Others may too; I don't care enough to check ((shrug))

  6. You Pathetic Shills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If the plan promises !10Mbps unlimited, then the plan needs to provide 10Mbps 24/7 as I FUCKING PAID FOR IT!

    That doesn't mean that they can restrict(LIMIT) my service 25% of the way through the month because they don't feel like providing the service that they sold me. They sold the service. I paid them for the service. They must deliver the fucking service!

  7. Re:Another liberal judge making law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh look, a conserv-tard shill.

  8. Re:Another liberal judge making law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can get unlimited data at "full speed" on many plans. You just have to pay by the GB. It's rather like you can get unlimited electricity at your house (bounded only by the amps of service you have - i.e., max bandwidth), you just pay by the number of KWH you use if you use a lot.

  9. Re:Another liberal judge making law by youngone · · Score: 2

    This thread seems to be infected with a huge number of AT&T shills trying to defend the indefensible.

  10. Re:Another liberal judge making law by youngone · · Score: 2

    Bandwidth isn't free, pumpkin.

    It is if you're AT&T.

  11. Re:Another liberal judge making law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This thread seems to be infected with a huge number of AT&T shills trying to defend the indefensible.

    Speaking of AT&T internet. Does anyone know how much their $40 (1 year) 50Mbps fiber really costs? I think I'm at $69 with charter, and they are refusing to give me another deal. I figured they might be more agreeable after a year away.

  12. All ATT needs now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is a nice piece of Pai to help things along

  13. Re:Another liberal judge making law by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    The exact problem is - you cannot PAY for an unlimited plan which is truly unlimited. ... At best, the carriers offer EVERYONE unlimited and limit it.

    The carriers COULD divide the available backhaul bandwidth at the edge routers, moment-by-moment, proportionally among the subscribers currently trying to use it, with those on capped plans stopping at their caps and any remainder distributed among those who haven't reached their caps. Further toward the backbone, any traffic would be divided among flows (ignoring the identity of the users of the flow) by the normal internet protocols' bandwidth-at-bottleneck sharing procedures. If they did this, oversubscription issues would be distributed fairly and I doubt there'd be complaints.

    ANY other limit on the "unlimited" users is, IMHO, an obvious violation of the advertised and contracted service level. Doing it to the customers deliberately would be consumer fraud.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  14. I'm no shill you pathetic moran by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    It is IMPOSSIBLE to let everyone download unlimited data at 10Mbps all the time - IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE.

    Also, the plan is probably called "10Mbps, unlimited data" or some shit. In my example the comma is there for a reason.

    You can hate the marketing departments all you want, but it won't change hardware limitations of the networks, whatever ISP you're using.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
    1. Re:I'm no shill you pathetic moran by Uberbah · · Score: 2

      I'm no shill you pathetic moran

      So you're willfully obtuse then, ok. I'll spell out the difference for you. Let's say you're a a concert and you're getting 10% of your normal bandwidth on your smartphone - because the available spectrum is filled with people using Snapchat, Instagram, livesteaming to Facebook, etc. That makes sense.

      Now compare that to you getting 10% of your normal bandwidth, not because there are a high number of users stressing the system, but because an AT&T algorithm has decided you've used too much this month and is throttling your connection. See why your grumbling about physics is not relevant to the subject at hand?

    2. Re:I'm no shill you pathetic moran by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      It still goes back to the difference between unlimited data and advertised speeds.

      Also, AFAIK data isn't free for ISPs either - although I did read their cost is like 1/100 or 1/1000 of what they charge us.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  15. Binding Arbitration Struck Down in California? by mentil · · Score: 2

    I'd say the bigger news is that binding arbitration clauses were struck down in California. Expect AT&T to take this to SCOTUS rather than let it stand.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  16. Re: Another liberal judge making law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Youâ(TM)re ignoring the fact that the paper work the customers sign (and itâ(TM)s really not that much, about 2.5 pages - theyâ(TM)re also automatically emailed a digital copy) has all the stipulations about the plans. I work in their sales department. I donâ(TM)t like that itâ(TM)s called unlimited, however all the information about the plans is there to be read and every ad Iâ(TM)ve ever seen about the unlimited plans says something like âoeafter 22gb AT&T may slow speedsâ. There are many people that are willfully ignorant and only see what they want to see. I make sure my customers know the details about their plans, but I canâ(TM)t speak for everyone.

    Donâ(TM)t forget that literally every major carrier does the exact same thing - itâ(TM)s not just AT&T.

  17. http://www.al-awa2el.com/%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A% by AhmedKamel · · Score: 0
  18. Logo tasarim by logotasarim · · Score: 1

    Yes thats the only way. Call it 100gb, 500gb, 10tb. So the user will know and its all ok. Ozgun ve kurumsal logo tasarim www.alkapgo.com

  19. Sometimes, the dictonary helps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Definition of unlimited
    1 : lacking any controls : unrestricted unlimited access
    2 : boundless, infinite unlimited possibilities
    3 : not bounded by exceptions : undefined

    Every attempt made by AT&T to restrict the amount of data sent to your device is a clear violation of the definition of "unlimited". If they want to re-brand their plans, then thats fine. You cant however, take a word that is commonly used and well defined and then create an alternative marketing definition for the word.

    It's like why they have to call Froot Loops "Froot" instead of "Fruit" as "Fruit" implies that there is actually "fruit" in it.
    It's the exact same debate about boneless wings....they have to be called "wyngz" if they do not use 100% wing meat. The problem is that people were using breast meat, which is not wing meat, and then calling them "wings".

    Using marketing mumbo-jumbo to redefine commonly used terms to make people think they are getting something they arent is patently false advertising.