Most places that you can get high speed Internet access from have an AcceptableUsePolicy (AUP). In an effort to encourage local ISP's to support us we are cataloging AUP's and making a judgment on whether we are allowed to share an Internet connection purchased through them. If you're interested getting your ISP's permission to share your bandwidth please read about ContactingYourIsp and hopefully they'll see the light as well.
Please note the following things:
- Most AUP's are living documents which means that they can change at anytime.
Even if the ISP gives their permission for you to share, you are still responsible for whatever traffic that originates from your node. If this concerns you contact PersonalTelco and we have tools which may help you control this.
- None of the judgments below are from lawyers, this are the best effort from volunteers.
If you use an ISP who is not listed please update the list to include them. If you're not sure if it's okay or not please read their AUP and/or contact them directly and ask if it's okay to use a connection from them for CommunityNetworking.
Thanks and Enjoy!
Note: The ElectronicFrontierFoundation is working on a nationwide list of wireless friendly ISP's. Eventually the list here will be deprecated in favor of their more comprehensive list. -- AdamShand
Note: For a list of Australian ISPs look here -- evilbunny
Oregon Providers
ISP/AUP |
Interpretation |
Updated |
Sharing Allowed - Official |
28 February 2005 |
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Stephouse Networks has officially pledged support of the Personal Telco Project and allows WiFi sharing for any community or neighborhood wireless network. --TylerBooth |
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Sharing Allowed - Official |
12 February 2002 |
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EasyStreet has published an official statement of support. --TomOffermann |
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Sharing Allowed |
20 June 2002 |
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Spire's AUP does not address sharing bandwidth via wireless. Its owner has said via email that they have no problem with small-scale sharing. For Nodes of Significance he believes they would add a $5/month surcharge, and intends to amend the AUP to reflect this. --CatonGates |
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Sharing Allowed |
2004 |
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Sharing Allowed - Unofficial |
7 September 2001 |
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On Sep 7 2001 they changed their response, refer to the list archives for what they said... Response to my query about sharing my internet connection(I asked about sharing via wireless to anyone walking by) from Brian Thompson: We have never had a problem with customers NATing multiple computer behind one IP address. Keep in mind that AUPs are a living document. If one customers causes us grief by doing something that is not covered by our AUP, we will most defiantly be updating it. The biggest problem I see is who is responsible for malice coming from that access point. What is to stop a hacker from hacking over your provided free access. |
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Sharing Allowed - Unofficial |
18 February 2004 |
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LonnieWormley contacted them and they said it was okay so long as you accept responsibility for any traffic that originates from your node. |
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Grey. They do mention in their feature list, that there are additional fees required for having "up to 3 additional computers connected to the service." |
31 August 2001 |
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Charter Pipeline is designed for personal and family use within a single household. You agree that you will not use Charter Pipeline to operate any type of business or commercial enterprise or to use Charter Pipeline as an Internet Service Provider. |
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Sharing Allowed - Unofficial |
24 October 2001 |
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I couldn't find their AUP online but both JerrittCollord and AdamShand have contacted them and been told that they don't care what you do with a DSL connection purchased from them so long as it's legal. |
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Not Allowed - Unofficial |
11 February 2006 |
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Comcast keeps all their Term of Service online. These need to be looked over to determine if wireless sharing is acceptable. -- DonPark |
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Per updated AUP the Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider, a server site for ftp, telnet, rlogin, e-mail hosting, "web hosting" or other similar applications --Austin |
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Found this in the AUP for Comcast: Multiple Users: The Service and the Comcast Equipment shall be used only by you and by members of your immediate household living with you at the same address. You acknowledge that you are executing this Agreement on behalf of all persons who use the Comcast Equipment and/or Service by means of the Customer Equipment. This seems to imply that they do not support sharing, although wireless access isn't mentioned specifically. --JasonWebber |
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evil bad no blah blah ".... or otherwise make available to anyone outside the Premises the ability to use the Service (i.e. wi-fi, or other methods of networking), in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or on a bundled or unbundled basis. The Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider or for any business enterprise or purpose, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network" --Alexis |
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N/A |
28 October 2003 |
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Unfortunately, we've dropped our Verizon DSL service and are no longer relevant to this list. --WilCooley |
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Sharing Allowed |
26 July 2002 |
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opus:interactive does not have a specific item regarding sharing in their AUP. I asked them about running servers and sharing bandwidth and they had no issues with that, as long as it doesn't violate any U.S. law. --ChrisArnesen |
New York Providers
ISP/AUP |
Interpretation |
Updated |
AceDSL |
Sharing Allowed |
08 April 2002 |
Had meeting with AceDSL. NYCwireless style wireless us is permitted. Contacted the CTO of AceDSL. Asked "Also, I am a volunteer in the Business Out-Reach Group within NYCWireless.net and we are looking at various ISPs to find out terms of service for wireless (802.11b) sharing. Does AceDSL have anything in their terms of service about this?" Response was "No, we have no such restrictions, feel free to use it, but do not expect support for it. As a side note, I know about nycwireless.net, and I know Pete Shipley and wardriving concept (while different from nycwireless, its same idea)... -- Alex Pilosov CTO - Acecape, Inc" |
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ISP/AUP |
Interpretation |
New |
Cablevision - Optimum Online |
Disallowed |
31 August 2003 |
Per TOS section 21c - In addition to the prohibitions outlined in the Acceptable Use Policy, Residential Optimum Online users may not: ... Resell, share, or otherwise distribute the Service or any portion thereof to any third party... |
Colorado Providers
ISP/AUP |
Interpretation |
Updated |
Sharing allowed officially - I spoke (and email to support) with a service rep regarding wireless access point setup. There is information to the contrary in their AUP however per the rep, it only applies to sharing of dialup accounts. The only issue with FRII is most of their account types have a data transfer limit, so be careful. |
27 January 2005 |
Grey - They do not indicate in their TOS that sharing and/or lan setup behind a router is not allowed. See http://www.pcisys.net/rules.php |
27 January 2005 |
Nationwide/Regional Providers
ISP/AUP |
Interpretation |
Updated |
Sharing Allowed - Official |
28 February 2005 |
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Stephouse Networks has officially pledged support of the Personal Telco Project and allows WiFi sharing for any community or neighborhood wireless network. --TylerBooth |
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Not Allowed |
28 February 2002 |
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I've read through their entire AUP and it isn't mentioned anywhere in there if it's okay to let others use your connection. So it should be okay. |
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Note: They havemade statements against bandwidth sharing in the press. -- Bob Fleck |
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That was a link to their web SITE policy, I fixed the link, and here is the killer statement under Theft of Service: "Customer shall not connect the Service or any AT&T Broadband Equipment to more computers, either on or outside of the Premises, than are reflected in Customers account with AT&T Broadband" --MichaelCodanti |
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Not Allowed |
29 August 2001 |
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@Home residential customers may not resell, share, or otherwise distribute the Services or any portion thereof to any third party without the written consent of @Home. For example, you cannot provide Internet access to others through a dial up connection, host shell accounts over the Internet, provide email or news service, or send a news feed. You may not use the @Home residential service for commercial purposes. The @Home residential service offering is a consumer product designed for your personal use of the Internet. For example, the service does not provide the type of security, upstream performance and total downstream throughput capability typically associated with commercial use." |
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Grey |
21 October 2001 |
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There are two parts which are potentially relevant - both of these are violations of their AUP. "k. Reselling the services. Reselling the Services without EarthLink's authorization." and "n. Long Connections and Multiple Logins. Using a personal account for high volume or commercial use is prohibited. The Services are intended for periodic, active use of email, newsgroups, file transfers, Internet chat, games, and browsing the World Wide Web. My interpretation would be that since we're not reselling we're okay and so long as your volume doesn't exceed normal residential use you're okay. BUT the Cable Terms and Conditions http://www.earthlink.net/about/policies/cable/ says: 8. Installation ... You acknowledge that this is a fixed-location service for one personal computer only. |
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Not Allowed |
June 2006 |
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From their TOS: SBC Yahoo! DSL and SBC Yahoo! High Speed Internet U-verse Enabled. Your SBC Yahoo! Member Account allows for one broadband connection and one other simultaneous network connection (such as a dial-up line) for a total of two (2) simultaneous network connections to the Internet. SBC reserves the right to prohibit any additional simultaneous network connections. This policy does not prohibit multiple, private users from connecting to the Internet as allowed under these TOS over the same network connection using customer premise equipment such as a router or home networking equipment. Public Use connections are prohibited. For purposes of these TOS, Public Use means unrestricted, open, communal or shared use by third parties unrelated and/or not affiliated to the Member either for profit or not for profit (referred to herein as "Public Use"). Also noted under Restricted Use is the following to make special note of: "You agree that the Service is not to be used to trunk or facilitate public internet access ("Hotspots") or any other Public Use of the Service, except for FreedomLink." |
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Sharing allowed - Official |
November 2002 |
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"Wireless networking and publicly shared wireless networks present exciting new opportunities to share information and connectivity resources with one another. Speakeasy believes that shared wireless networks are in keeping with our core values of disseminating knowledge, access to information and fostering community". They also have a section of their members website with wireless news, member hotspot listings, etc. |
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Not Allowed |
September 2001 |
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"In using Services from Qwest, you will not resell any services or offer public information services over dial-up accounts" This doesn't address DSL specifically. Ive talked to 3 cust sup. reps. and none had an answer. Note that at some point qwest users will be subject to MSN agreements. |
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Business class service from QWest, which is not serviced through MSN, should be different. At a broadband trade show in 2000 I listened to a (then USWest) rep state that the advantage of DSL over cable was that they sold bandwidth to the end users and did not care to what use the bandwidth was put. --MichaelRasmussen |
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Qwest as a copper cable/data transit network has its own rules regardless of the ISP in use. A general usage policy exists that does not appear to limit the redistribution of service. http://www.qwest.com/legal/usagePolicy.html --DonPark |
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Not Allowed |
3 September 2001 |
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"you may not resell, share, or otherwise distribute the Service or any portion thereof to any third party. You may not provide network services to others via the Service." |
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Sharing Allowed |
8 July 2002 |
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On the phone they reassured me that the connection can be used for sharing. There acceptable use policy states: "MegaPath will not permit you OR OTHERS [my emphasis] using your MegaPath DSL service to use this service for any of the following purposes... " -- Seth Shikora |
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Grey |
9 Oct 2002 |
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2.5 If you subscribe to DSL Service: A. You may not resell the Service, use it for high volume purposes, or engage in similar activities that constitute resale (commercial or non-commercial), as determined solely by Verizon Online. B. You may connect multiple computers/devices within a single home or office location to your DSL modem and/or router to access the Service , but only through a single DSL account and a single IP address obtained from Verizon Online. -- Kristopher Barrett |
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Not Allowed |
22 Mar 2006 |
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Section 4,b,iii: I agree that, among other things, my use of any form of transmitter or wide area network that enables persons or entities outside the location identified in the Work Order to use my Services, whether or not a fee is sought, will constitute an enterprise purpose. Furthermore, if I use a wireless network within my residence, I will limit wireless access to the HSD Service (by establishing and using a secure password or similar means) to the members of my household. |