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by James Robertson.
Original Post: When a policy muddies the water....
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I decided to have a look at Comcast's policy on VPN's this morning (Comcast is my ISP). So I'm reading the page:
Do you allow/support Virtual Private Networks (VPN)?
Comcast allows customers to utilize VPN software in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy and other terms of service; however, we do not provide technical support for them. To get support, please contact your software company's system administrator.
Ok, that sounds reasonable. Off to the Acceptable Use Policy document. Here I find this:
Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, using the Service, Customer Equipment, or the Comcast Equipment to:
.....
resell the Service or otherwise make available to anyone outside the Premises the ability to use the Service (i.e. wi-fi, or other methods of networking), in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or on a bundled or unbundled basis. The Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider or for any business enterprise or purpose, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network;
As I read that last clause, using VPN makes my system and end-poinit on a non-Comcast WAN - which is prohibited. So I can 'use VPN within the limits of the AUP' - meaning, I have the degenerate case, where I can't use it. Now to be fair, Comcast doesn't seem to care - I've had numerous techs tell me that they won't come after people using vpn unless they are chewing bandwidth in other ways (running servers, etc) that cause a problem. Still, the stated policy is at odds with the friendly sounding answer. I guess my question is, has anyone at Comcast read this page's question and compared it to the actual policy? Or is clarity optional now?