
AT&T Threatens Plaintiff With Termination Of Service Unless He Shuts Up - dwynings
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/13/att-gets-dirty-threatens-plaintiff-with-termination-of-service-unless-he-shuts-up/
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atourgates
The title is sensationalist and inaccurate. What AT&T is doing is trying to
get out of their judgement, through negotiation, with the side-benefit that if
he enters into said negotiation, it would happen under a NDA.

They're threatening to terminate his service because he tethered, and violated
the TOS.

I think the clamant would be crazy to take them up on it, but that's another
point entirely.

~~~
fleitz
Would this mean that if anyone wants to get out of their AT&T contract instead
of paying ridiculous fees, they simply need to tether their phone?

~~~
wmf
The TOS is not that clear to me, but there may be a possibility that you would
have to pay the ETF even if AT&T terminates your contract.

[http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-
service/legal/index.j...](http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-
service/legal/index.jsp?q_termsKey=wirelessCustomerAgreement&q_termsName=Wireless+Customer+Agreement&print=true)

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mindslight
When they cancel his service, he should take them back to court for unjust
discrimination on customer equipment, citing the Carterphone precedent. Sorry
Ma Bell, the demarc is in the air, and anything past the baseband can't
possibly harm the network.

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gm
I think there's no story there. If the platiff won the small claims case and
the HE initiated further contact with AT&T on the matter then all bets are off
and AT&T is entitled to respond as it pleases, even if it's a "we won't talk
to you about this matter we just settled in court unless you sign an NDA"

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direllama
"Your data usage demonstrates that you have tethered your wireless device..."
How does data usage provide proof of tethering?

~~~
koenigdavidmj
He also admitted to tethering according to the article.

~~~
gcb
How att even get away with this?

Case 1: judge recognizes att can control the content (tether vs non tether)
then why can't i sue them if someone offends me on an email?

Case 2: they are a connection provider, so they have to allow you to use the
connection in any way you can.

Analogy: could they legally have a phone plan like 20/mo unlimited calls 30/mo
unlimited calls + 50 faxes

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mathattack
How about this title, "Man complaining because Time Warner won't let him steal
neighbors cable"?

Seems just as inaccurate but at least captures the spirit.

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zitterbewegung
Isn't this article ignoring the fact that a whole bunch of other customers
could do the same thing and get a similar settlement?

~~~
JimEngland
We have a guide explaining how other customers can take AT&T to small claims
court on our blog: [http://blog.publikdemand.com/how-to-fight-att-in-small-
claim...](http://blog.publikdemand.com/how-to-fight-att-in-small-claims-court)

~~~
wilfra
You're thinking small. Organize a class-action with him as the lead defendant.

~~~
dakotasmith
Actually, class action lawsuits can be more easily dealt with, since the
lawyers on both side negotiate the terms of the settlement.

A litany of small claims court settlements would put more money in the hands
of plaintiffs, not lawyers, and would be available in the news cycle for much
longer than a class action lawsuit/settlement.

~~~
wilfra
'One random guy wins $850 in small claims court from AT&T' - you think that is
newsworthy? I disagree. We wouldn't have been hearing about this had AT&T not
tried to shut him up.

They will learn from this mistake. They just ran into
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect>

The way to handle this if you are AT&T is to pay the $850 and then ignore
anything else he does and wait for it to go away.

~~~
Jimmie
Right, but 10 different people winning $850 in small claims court from AT&T
would be newsworthy. It might convince more people to follow in their
footsteps.

~~~
dakotasmith
You see my point exactly, if you could find 10 people in March, I'm sure April
has 10 more. Or 100 more.

