IIC Internet Virtual servers

[Seth Gordon]

Matthew Gillen wrote:
> Jerry Feldman wrote:
> 
>>The stupid language of these service agreements is just that, stupid,
>>but legally necessary. 
>>What they really don't want is for people to be running IRC and game
>>servers.
> 
> 
> But why?  The only plausible explanation I've heard is because then you'd
> actually be using the bandwidth you're supposedly paying for.

I believe the term is "market segmentation".  There are a lot of
non-geeks who would pay $20/month (but no more) for broadband Internet
service and don't want to use it for anything more than email and Web
browsing.  There are a smaller number of businesses who want to run
their own servers and are willing to pay $100/month for the privilege of
connecting those servers to the Internet.  By blocking servers on its
cheap DSL lines, Verizon (and other ISPs) soaks up revenue from the
$20/month crowd and forces the businesses to cough up extra.

Companies that set their prices by asking "how much can my customers
afford to pay?" generally have a higher profit margin than companies
that set their prices by asking "how much does providing this service
cost me?"  That's capitalism for ya.

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