HOW are they allowed to charge for this....
This is the real question. I've been using using Windows Mobile for 10 years (+or-) now and this "feature" was never an additional charge. If I'm paying a monthly fee for unlimited data (that fee has not come down by the way) I should be able to use that data anyway I want that does not violate the law. Whether I hook up to another computer, or 5 or 10, the data and bandwidth I'm purchasing does not have the right to be regulated in this way. This violates net neutrality standards and imo is Verizon's way of telling their customers how the company feels about net neutrality and their freedom's.
I've purchased the phone, I've purchased the data plan, I have the capability to plug up to another machine and allow that machine to use the data I've already paid for. If I add Verizon's 3G Wireless Hotspot as a monthly recurring charge, what "service" am I paying for? They are not providing me any additional "service" I'm not already subscribing to.
We as American's have become way too complaicent in allowing companies like Verizon to impose their will on us without reprimand for their actions. Why there isn't an antitrust lawsuit against them and a number of other carriers is beyond me. There big corporate monopolies keep locking in products and features to keep competition out and that is by far a clear definition of what antitrust is.
I'm so pissed off by my Verizon service, not because the service is bad but because I'm tired of being nickeled and dimed to death by them!! This has to stop!