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DSL

Is DSL Sharing DSL Piracy?

Members of the ISP-Tech list argue over whether DSL subscribers should be allowed to share their connection. Every ISP needs a good TOS and a good AUP.

[January 28, 2002]

On the ISP-Tech list, BS complained,

"My customers are abusing the ADSL lines they buy from me. A guy will get one ADSL line for a flat monthly fee, then connect all the users in his apartment building to that one line. Any ideas on how this can be prevented?"

A number of respondents suggested that simple bandwidth limiting should resolve the issue:

[SS offered] "I'm not sure I see what the problem is. You can limit them to x kilobytes per second. If they want to divide a 768 Kbps DSL line between 25 people and get less bandwidth per person than they would on a 56 Kbps modem, that isn't a problem."

[TH agreed] "In our area, Qwest limits the bandwidth available for pull on the circuit, but we also could limit it on our Cisco configuration. We give a standard 256 Kbps connection: if they want to network it to five people for 56 Kbps each, they're welcome to."

Others noted that a major concern still remains:

[VB observed] "The problem is, residential ADSL pricing is based on the assumption that the line is going to be effectively unused most of the time. Put 30 people on that same line, and now you have a much higher average utilization. The way I put it to my customers is this: with residential service, you're buying speed, not sustained bandwidth. You want to make a business out of it, buy the business service."

[RS agreed] "One premise of dialup and ADSL is that the single customer is not consuming bandwidth at all times. So all of the sub-subscribers are going to increase costs."

Still others recommended making sure that these issues are covered in writing:

[SS advised] "Have the customer sign something saying that (a) you are not supporting all of the other people, just him; (b) you will take no responsibility for speed, since he's going to try to cram a bunch of people onto the same line; and (c) if he ends up swamping your bandwidth, you reserve the right to charge him enough money to make up the costs."

[MM added] "This should be prevented in your TOS for residential accounts. I would suggest offering a business account to him at a higher price, to make up for your need to increase bandwidth."

[JY agreed] "A clause in your AUP should have taken care of this. If you do not have a clause in your AUP, there isn't much that you can do about it, other than strictly monitoring the bandwidth traffic and billing overages in full."

Still others suggested that there are ways to take advantage of the large client base he's just taken on:

[JE noted] "Right now, you have to provide tech support and bandwidth to satisfy one subscriber agreement, and if it's not enough for him and his users, that's his problem, not yours. Some may decide that they want more speed, and will subscribe to you: he's bait on your hook!"

[GG suggested] "'Accidentally' cut them off for a few hours. The resold users will call your customer, not you. You will only get one phone call, and he will get twenty…"

MG observed that problems like this are likely to increase:

"Wait 'til wireless 802.11b stuff goes mainstream: all neighborhoods will be doing this. It's just something we are going to have to adjust to. The main lesson here is that DSL providers need to charge what the DSL and the bandwidth really cost them, and not try to sell it dirt cheap just to get a customer base."

—End