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But it’s on the point of ISP terms of service that I believe Schneier’s case falls. First, he expresses no concern whatsoever about others stealing his bandwidth from his open network — “pay it forward,” he suggests.
But bandwidth isn’t the only issue here, at least not from the ISP’s standpoint; it’s lost revenue. The reason ISP terms of service forbid customers from sharing bandwidth with neighbors is as much or more about the provider’s need to turn a buck as it is the finite nature of the product.
A big question here is: who’s bandwidth is being shared? The subscriber or the ISP’s? That puts it in “either-or” terms, of course, when really it isn’t so clear cut. Arguments cut both ways.
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