Fairpoint Pledges to Violate Net Neutrality 2
Submitted
by
wytcld
wytcld writes "Fairpoint Communications, which has taken over Verizon's landline business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, announces that on February 6:
AOL, Yahoo! and MSN subscribers will continue to have access to content but will no longer be able to access their e-mail through the third party Web site. Instead, Yahoo! and other third party e-mail will be accessed directly at the MyFairPoint.net portal.
Since Verizon spun off its lines to Fairpoint in a maneuver that got debt off of Verizon's balance sheets by saddling Fairpoint with it, there was concern by the public service boards of the three states about how Fairpoint would deal with that debt. Fairpoint's profit plan: force all Webmail users through Fairpoint's portal, by blocking all direct access to Webmail portals other than its own.
Will Fairpoint's own search engine portal be next? What can stop them?"
What can stop them? (Score:2)
How about AOL, Yahoo! and MSN removing all search results for Fairpoint from their search engines and websites. And any search requests for Fairpoint brings up a competitor.
BTW, Google's not mentioned. What gives there?
Re: (Score:2)
Customers bailing - not an option for many, perhaps most of Fairpoint's DSL customers, for whom they are the only high-speed option. For others, the choice is Comcast. In some parts of Fairpoint's territory in Vermont, Sovernet [sover.net] is an option - but recently Sovernet has been concentrating on business accounts over residential, to the point of not even advertising a residential rate schedule.