Verizon targets customers running mobile tethering apps
Is Verizon finally starting to go after unauthorized tethering apps? That seems to be the case, as many Droid X and Thunderbolt users have been hit with messages like the one posted above. At the moment, Verizon's focus appears to be on the tethering app Wireless Tether, which is one of the more popular unofficial tethering options.
Why does Verizon care? The company wants its customers to purchase its official tethering plan, which runs for $20 for 2 GB. Makes sense.
AT&T began a similar attack in March, cracking down on customers that it believed were running unauthorized iOS tethering applications like MyWi. "AT&T Free Msg: Did you know tethering your Smartphone to a computer requires a tethering plan? Pls call 888-860-6789 for details or visit att.com/dataplans," AT&T's text messages read.
One of the central questions with AT&T's tactics, and one that to a certain degree persists with Verizon, is the exact method by which the companies are determining which users are using particular tethering apps. When AT&T began targeting suspected tetherers, its methods were often flawed and implicated users who weren't tethering at all. In the end, many suspected that the company was simply targeting users who were consuming an extreme amount of data.
Clearly, life isn't getting any easier for Android users.
[Via Droid Life]
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