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Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

googleprotest.com

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Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#71
post #70

Doesn't this change...nothing? They have always allowed you to run non-commercial servers, haven't they?

No, the original wording was pretty draconian and attracted some complaints: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/google-fiber-continues...

Key phrase: "Unless you have a written agreement with Google Fiber permitting you do so, you should not host any type of server using your Google Fiber connection"

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#72
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Being able to handle everyone using their connections to the full at all times would require being able to deal with massively more usage then you ever practically see" So what? All that means is that you can oversell throughput. How does it imply that people cannot or should not be running any particular service over their connection? The real barrier to hosting commercial services on residential connections should…

> How does it imply that people cannot or should not be running any particular service over their connection? To limit the number of people massively over-using their connection? > The real barrier to hosting commercial services on residential connections should be technical. Those are just reasons why a service would be unreliable. This would give another good reason for the split, occasional downtime wouldn't rende…

It's not overuse if you're using the bandwidth that is advertised. If they can't handle you using the bandwidth, then they shouldn't offer it.

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#73
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about this: if I rent a car for one day, and the rental describes itself as "unlimited mileage", I expect to be able to use it for 24 hours straight. If I get fined for using it for the full 24 hours because that puts wear and tear on the car that the car rental business did not anticipate, then I am going to accuse them of false advertising. I don't care if everybody doing that would ruin their business; if they…

They work on the basis the almost nobody will rent a car and drive it for 24 hours straight unless you are planning to use it for a le-mans style event. They will have clauses in the rental agreement that prevent you from using it to enter a le-mans style event.

It's trivially easy to run it straight for a single 24 solid hours (apart from gas and bathroom stops). Just take a cross-country road trip with 3-4 drivers who can rotate. Minneapolis, MN to Page, AZ for spring break as an example.

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#74
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about this: if I rent a car for one day, and the rental describes itself as "unlimited mileage", I expect to be able to use it for 24 hours straight. If I get fined for using it for the full 24 hours because that puts wear and tear on the car that the car rental business did not anticipate, then I am going to accuse them of false advertising. I don't care if everybody doing that would ruin their business; if they…

They work on the basis the almost nobody will rent a car and drive it for 24 hours straight unless you are planning to use it for a le-mans style event. They will have clauses in the rental agreement that prevent you from using it to enter a le-mans style event.

I'm sure people semi-rarely drive them 24 hours straight. There are certainly situations where people do that outside of motoring events, driving several states away on a road trip for instance (I have driven across the country several times, and if I had been doing it with a rental then I would have been inclined to maximize my hours-per-day to keep rental costs down). It would no doubt be rare, but I can only imagine that they don't get bent out of shape when it inevitably happens.

Basically, I hypothesis that rental car advertisement is far more honest than ISP advertisement. Furthermore, I assert that if rental car companies tried to pull the shenanigans that ISPs pull, they would be smacked down. An "unlimited miles" contract may have a "keep it legal" clause, which is a reasonable clause that anybody would expect, but a "'unlimited' means you can drive it during any time of the day, but keep it under 500 miles" tinyprinted clause would be considered deceptive.

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#75
post #25
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had no trouble paying a little extra for static IPs, not to mention delegated reverse DNS, over the past 15 years.

Of course, it all depends on the ISP. I've had nothing but denials over the years each time I've tried to request a static IP address, let alone PTR record delegation.

To be sure, I have chosen my ISPs with this requirement over the years.

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They work on the basis the almost nobody will rent a car and drive it for 24 hours straight unless you are planning to use it for a le-mans style event. They will have clauses in the rental agreement that prevent you from using it to enter a le-mans style event.

It's trivially easy to run it straight for a single 24 solid hours (apart from gas and bathroom stops). Just take a cross-country road trip with 3-4 drivers who can rotate. Minneapolis, MN to Page, AZ for spring break as an example.

Technically you have to tell the car rental company if somebody else is going to be driving. What then happens depends on the company, though at least several rental companies will allow your spouse to also drive the car for no extra fee. Two people handing off every few hours can fairly easily do 24 hours straight safely (provided both are semi-decent at napping in the car). With three people or more, as you said, it becomes trivial.

Even in cases where the rental company charges you for additional drivers, I don't think that charge ever goes over a handful of dollars; not really enough to offset a 24-hour straight run.

From what I can tell, rental companies dislike multiple drivers because multiple drivers increases the risk of incident (I presume because multiple drivers correlates with 24-hour runs).

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#77
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like false advertising to me...

How does no one understand that what he's saying is that the product regular ISPs market is 'internet w/ fine print (i.e. no servers, etc)', versus uncapped, open 20x20mb line, without fine print? The point is exactly that everything advertised by Comcast comes with an asterisk and fine print which you must agree to, to use their service (making it not false advertising).

Comcast advertising doesn't doesn't include Comcast contracts.

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#78
post #48

Better make sure you run adblock while browsing through your VPN to home- wouldn't want anything commercial to go on. It's all good: Google is just trying to protect you from the evils of money.

Wow, -1. I know I was being a bit snarky. But the definition of "commercial use" is horribly ambiguous, with basically no broad legally defined meaning.

If viewing ads on Google wasn't a commercial use I could hardly imagine anything else being one... but presumably they don't intend to reject commercial uses that make them money.

The whole idea about rejecting commercial uses is wrong-headed. It presumes that you can draw a bright line between someones activities being commercial or not. Really, just like the no-servers prohibition this is a frivolous field of use restriction which serves to act as an excuse for arbitrary enforcement.

Re: Google Fiber now allows servers for non-commercial use

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt they are trying to cut off competition to GMail. Email is blocked typically as a matter of convention by the majority of ISPs. It requires features 99.9% of customers don't care about in the slightest, and invites spam problems.

Indeed. Chances of a random person accidentally setting up an open email relay of some sort are high.

Although an open email relay would probably be some other violation of the AUP, methinks.

(warning: haven't actually read AUP.)

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