NY Wrests $1 Million From Verizon Wireless

netbuzz writes "Unlimited really means unlimited, even in advertising. So says the New York State Attorney General's Office in squeezing a $1 million settlement out of Verizon Wireless for disconnecting 13,000 of its customers who had the temerity to believe that the unlimited service they were promised came with unlimited service. Verizon's statement explaining the settlement is a gem, too."

Oh, wow

[johndiii]

Eighty dollars per person. That'll make a big impact. Take that, Verizon!

Spin doctors

[Nefarious Wheel]

Geez I wish I could be a corporate spin doctor like that. With my skills -- I could be a Hundredaire!!

One million dollars?

[Travoltus]

All they had to do was turn one of their execs upside down and shake the change out of his pants.

Sheesh.

Re:Petty cash

[Lumpy]

But hell, you expect thieves and con men to tell the truth in a contract? I mean, the agreement is about their LIES to begin with!

there! right there is the essence of wisdom for today.

Anyone demanding a contract or agreement is a thief and needs to be treated as such.

Re:Assumed Guilt

[Anonymous Coward]

Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading, or streaming of audio or video programming or games;

Holy crap, that's messed up. Let me count the ways you can't use your Internet connection:

(1) No Nintendo Wii, XBox 360, or PS3 (you bad person!)
(2) No legally purchased music from iTunes or [Doesn't]PlayForSure service.
(3) No legally watching television or movies from iTunes, Vongo, or MovieLink. (why oh why would you want to do that? /sarcasm)
(4) No listening to your favorite net-radio station. (Get yer' self a transistor radio, cheapskate!)
(5) No watching YouTube. (*gasp!*)
(6) No watching of Flash movies or playing of Flash games
(7) No playing World of Warcraft
(8) Don't do anything with your connection, ever. Just pay Verizon lots of dough.

And by don't do anything, I am referring to the fact that the rest of the agreement also makes it improper to:

(9) No Linux ISOs for you, you dirty, bearded Unix hippie!
(10) No online backups of your important data. (You don't need those office documents, do you?)
(11) No downloading Windows patches. (Too much data, ya' know.)
(12) No downloading any large patch, ever. (Remember, 100MB an hour is a LOT. *scoff*)
(12) No getting infected with a virus because you didn't install the patch you weren't supposed to install.
(13) Just unplug your network cable and pay Verizon money. Lots of money. Hey, it's unlimited as long as you don't use it! All the data transfer you can possible not consume! Unlimited! Yay!

Re:One million dollars?

[Daimanta]

How dare you question the holy working of democracy! It is my democratic right to spend my mod points however I want. If I disagree with you I have the absolute right to mod you -1 Flamebait and if I like, I have every right to mod you +1 Insightfull. For democracy is an infallible system that never fails and do to the infinite wisdom of the owners of /. we have this perfect system.

"1 Million Dollars" - Pinky pointing at cheek

[GuyverDH]

Come on, is Dr. Evil the NYAG? That's not going to deter Verizon one bit.
The term unlimited means no limits.
There's no way to change the definition no matter what *legalsleeze* you throw at it.

If it's not unlimited, you can't use the term.

Just like most chocolate flavored cereals, if not made using real chocolate, have to say "chocolatey"..

Maybe they need to have the term "unlimitedey" or "unlimitedlike" or "pseudounlimited" instead.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Assumed Guilt

[letxa2000]

On a cell phone, 167MB/day is painful. When I go to Blockbuster and my wife asks me to check the comments/rating of a movie on IMDB via my cell phone, I cringe. It's painful. 167MB/day? The Verizon T.O.S. should be rewritten to say, "If you download more than 5GB per month, you are assumed to be stupid and your account will be terminated."

Re:Oh, wow

[Mister Whirly]

"I am not a lawyer"? Here I always thought people were talking about some kinky new product from Apple - the iAnal.

Apparently IANARS. (I am not a rocket scientist)