EVO Hotspot

[Holsum]

In my opinion, the hotspot feature is similar, we are not using sprint's app, but one that someone else wrote and decided to give away for free. Sprint could have made the EVO incredibly hard to root (see droid incredible, no pun intended) but they didn't. If you leave your door unlocked, your house is more likely to get robbed and you know this, which is why you lock your door. Sprint closed the door, but didnt lock it, therefore taking the risk of us doing our own thing.

That is the ABSOLUTE WORST analogy i have ever read in my life. You hacked your phone, you are breaking the rules. You are breaking the TOS agreement and there are consequences (ie voiding your warranty). Whether you care or not, that is your decision. Don't try and justify wrong doing by saying Sprint WANTS you to do anything. that is providing false information and isn't helpful to anyone here.

Now, I have used unrevoked (easiest process i have ever seen) and did download the wifi tethering (very easy to use). But saying that is what Sprint wants is COMPLETELY false and ignorant. If sprint didn't care they would provide it for free and not lock it down.

 

[digmys]

That is the ABSOLUTE WORST analogy i have ever read in my life. You hacked your phone, you are breaking the rules. You are breaking the TOS agreement and there are consequences (ie voiding your warranty). Whether you care or not, that is your decision. Don't try and justify wrong doing by saying Sprint WANTS you to do anything. that is providing false information and isn't helpful to anyone here.

Now, I have used unrevoked (easiest process i have ever seen) and did download the wifi tethering (very easy to use). But saying that is what Sprint wants is COMPLETELY false and ignorant. If sprint didn't care they would provide it for free and not lock it down.

Please show where I said Sprint wants anything. I simply said they could have beefed up the security more, like it seems VZW did on the Incredible, but it seems instead it wasn't a high priority and therefore they took a risk of this happening and it did. The word 'want' isn't even in anything I typed.

 

[Holsum]

Please show where I said Sprint wants anything. I simply said they could have beefed up the security more, like it seems VZW did on the Incredible, but it seems instead it wasn't a high priority and therefore they took a risk of this happening and it did. The word 'want' isn't even in anything I typed.

My apologies i got 2 posts mixed up reading them so fast. We should be grateful that Sprint isnt as anal as Verizon is. Its the exact reason that Verizon does have the great phones that all other carriers have. They are the biggest control freak of them all, worse then apple. Its the same reason they turned down apple for the original iphone.

Anyways, the point is rooting your phone and getting wifi tethering is in fact stealing from sprint. No matter what anyone says, it is fact. Now i agree that the data is yours you paid for it, but the "hotspot" feature isnt and that is what you are "stealing". its like buying a stolen car knowingly, but the consequences arent as sever .

 

[digmys]

We'll all have to agree to disagree on this one I suppose. And this will all change when froyo arrives anyways as word is Sprint will NOT block the wireless hotspot feature included in the OS. But will continue to charge those who wish to use their app instead.

 

[Holsum]

We'll all have to agree to disagree on this one I suppose. And this will all change when froyo arrives anyways as word is Sprint will NOT block the wireless hotspot feature included in the OS. But will continue to charge those who wish to use their app instead.

hahaha, why would you think sprint wouldn't block it, where did you read that?

 

[Mustachio]

Indeed...my money is on Sprint blocking everything they can.

 

[anon(22913)]

We'll all have to agree to disagree on this one I suppose. And this will all change when froyo arrives anyways as word is Sprint will NOT block the wireless hotspot feature included in the OS. But will continue to charge those who wish to use their app instead.

lol why would Sprint *not* block the hotspot in Froyo? That's silly, they want the $30 a month they're not idiots, they're running a business.

 

[Taco Jackson]

So, just trying to understand you here... you're saying that because they don't make it harder to hack the feature, Sprint WANTS you to hack it? Does that mean if I leave my door unlocked that I want my house robbed?

Cell phone companies bait & switch all the time as well as essentially extort money from their users. They charge for txt data in packets between your cell and tower that are moving all the time regardless, and they charge at a rate that's more expensive than NASA pays to get money from the Hubbell telescope. Cry me a river if a few people use their own technical skills to get around the extra WiFi charge.

I understand paying for additional usage. If you use more minutes, you're tying up the cell towers, they have to build more, someone has to pay for it. That's fine. But when you already pay a data fee for your EVO, and yet another $10 for the 4G ability even if you don't live in a 4G area (and never will), that's offensive. But then to say if you wish to consume that data allocation you already paid for over a Wifi signal rather than straight 3G, that you have to pay "again", $30 more, every month... you have to be kidding. It's like Bill Gates saying "if you want to view your screen at a higher resolution, you have to pay us another $30 a month". Sprint is retarded for trying to charge for that. You're more retarded for paying that, but that is your choice and this is ours.

That's the logical basis: most of us can only stand to be "so" ripped off.

 

[Braaainz]

The stock sprint app is still working for free for those of us that AREN'T paying the hotspot fee (for me atleast, I just tested it) so technically they aren't stealing anything YET (or ever, in my opinion).

Also, you are paying to use sprint's app, not wifi tether. If sprint charged us for GPS turn by turn (sprint navigation) on our phone (thank god they don't like all of the other guys) but we decided to use a free app instead (google nav) even if it wasn't quite as good, that is not stealing. My friend has a Droid, he could pay $10 a month for VZW navigator, but instead he uses google nav, he is not stealing gps from verizon.

In my opinion, the hotspot feature is similar, we are not using sprint's app, but one that someone else wrote and decided to give away for free. Sprint could have made the EVO incredibly hard to root (see droid incredible, no pun intended) but they didn't. If you leave your door unlocked, your house is more likely to get robbed and you know this, which is why you lock your door. Sprint closed the door, but didnt lock it, therefore taking the risk of us doing our own thing.

According to the contract you signed when you got your Evo,

Examples of prohibited data uses: Sprint data services are provided solely for purposes of web surfing, sending and receiving email, photographs and other similar messaging activities, and the non-continuous streaming of videos, downloading of files or on line gaming. Our data services may not be used:

vi) for an activity that connects any device to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for the purpose of transmitting wireless data over the network (unless customer is using a plan designated for such usage)

So, even if a third party application is used by you, that does not change the fact that you are violating your contract and are committing theft. If you tether your laptop, you owe Sprint the hotspot fee.

Cell phone companies bait & switch all the time as well as essentially extort money from their users. They charge for txt data in packets between your cell and tower that are moving all the time regardless, and they charge at a rate that's more expensive than NASA pays to get money from the Hubbell telescope. Cry me a river if a few people use their own technical skills to get around the extra WiFi charge.

I understand paying for additional usage. If you use more minutes, you're tying up the cell towers, they have to build more, someone has to pay for it. That's fine. But when you already pay a data fee for your EVO, and yet another $10 for the 4G ability even if you don't live in a 4G area (and never will), that's offensive. But then to say if you wish to consume that data allocation you already paid for over a Wifi signal rather than straight 3G, that you have to pay "again", $30 more, every month... you have to be kidding. It's like Bill Gates saying "if you want to view your screen at a higher resolution, you have to pay us another $30 a month". Sprint is retarded for trying to charge for that. You're more retarded for paying that, but that is your choice and this is ours.

That's the logical basis: most of us can only stand to be "so" ripped off.

Sprint didn't hold a gun to your head and say, "buy the phone, sign the contract, and pay $10 extra a month". You signed that contract of your own freewill. If you didn't like it, you didn't have to sign the contract.

I fail to see how an "offensive" contract clause then gives a person the right to violate the contract and steal.

Oh, and I'd like to point out your abusive ad hominem in saying that people paying for the hotspot fee are "more retarded". People stealing the feature are thieves, that is the simple truth. Calling people "retarded" is merely insulting and trying to poison the well.

 

[MissJennell#IM]

I had it on my EVO and it drained my battery like crazy!

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Wow. Thieves. I feel really bad. I guess I'll go turn myself in at the local police station.

I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $30 a month for something I'll use MAYBE once a month. Nor will I feel guilty about it. No more so than I do if I drive over the speed limit, or park at a meter that someone else left 15 minutes on.

 

[digmys]

Examples of prohibited data uses: Sprint data services are provided solely for purposes of web surfing, sending and receiving email, photographs and other similar messaging activities, and the non-continuous streaming of videos, downloading of files or on line gaming. Our data services may not be used:

vi) for an activity that connects any device to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for the purpose of transmitting wireless data over the network (unless customer is using a plan designated for such usage)

Cool, ill be sure to only tether to my iPad then

 

[Mustachio]

Is it actually illegal to tether your EVO? Which governmental laws are broken when you do this? I can understand how tetherers would be breaking contracts with Sprint, breaking their rules, but LAWS?

 

[Bigtuna00]

Is it actually illegal to tether your EVO? Which governmental laws are broken when you do this? I can understand how tetherers would be breaking contracts with Sprint, breaking their rules, but LAWS?

It's illegal to break your contract, yes.

 

[Mustachio]

That sounds more like a tort or something, not a criminal law.

 

[Bigtuna00]

That sounds more like a tort or something, not a criminal law.

Huh?

"'Tort' is the French word for a 'wrong.' A tort is a non-contractual, non-criminal wrongdoing."

(emphasis mine)

Tort - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(please forgive the wikipedia citation but it was convenient)

Are you perhaps trying to make distinctions that are beyond your understanding?

 

[digmys]

Breach of contract is a civil matter, not criminal.

Who cares what it is though? Those that want to do it are going to do it and the morality police sitting on the other side of the table pointing fingers and screaming about how bad it is really aren't going to change anyone's minds. If you want to do it, do it, if not don't and keep your opinions about how wrong it is to yourself.

 

[Bigtuna00]

Breach of contract is a civil matter, not criminal.

True but irrelevant.

The question was:

Is it actually illegal to tether your EVO?

I think we've adequately established that the answer is yes, no?

EDIT: by the way I agree you are probably not going to change anyone's mind with this information. But it should be accurate nonetheless.

 

[Braaainz]

Wow. Thieves. I feel really bad. I guess I'll go turn myself in at the local police station.

I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $30 a month for something I'll use MAYBE once a month. Nor will I feel guilty about it. No more so than I do if I drive over the speed limit, or park at a meter that someone else left 15 minutes on.

I actually wish you did feel bad about committing theft. Our society is based on the idea of binding contracts. Yeah, cheating on a cellphone contract is a minor point, but it bothers me how little regard people have for principles. At least I?m safe in the knowledge that I will probably never engage in business with you.

Who cares what it is though? Those that want to do it are going to do it and the morality police sitting on the other side of the table pointing fingers and screaming about how bad it is really aren't going to change anyone's minds. If you want to do it, do it, if not don't and keep your opinions about how wrong it is to yourself.

Who?s screaming? I?m not. I?m just calmly expressing my views (nary an exclamation point to be found).

Will I change anyone?s mind about breaching their contract? Probably not. I am just interested in the rationalizations and defenses people use.

 

[digmys]

I am just interested in the rationalizations and defenses people use.

The only rationalizations or defenses that you are likely to find is the fact that Sprint charges $30 for something that can be obtained very easily for free and that your opinion on the matter has no value to anyone other than yourself.