Perhaps a phone call would be better than an email. I've always found it hard to send once my service has been interrupted.

As ISPs go, they already are taking the wrong kind of people going at the wrong speed off the internet (read: p2p users or anyone who goes over the arbitrary download limit). This would be like towing the guy going 5 miles over the posted 70mph speed limit, but not even giving a warning to the guy with the unmarked wide load as he sideswipes other drivers while speeding down the road with a bunch of stolen cash from the latest heist. I don't like what they are already doing, but they should try to protect their network from botnet traffic. What I'm trying to say is that yes, it is a slippery slope. The problem is that the ISPs in America jumped straight to the bottom and missed this needed step on the way there. And for the record, if a machine at my house were to be infected by a botnet, I would appreciate a call from my ISP saying they have suspended my access until I'm cleaned up a lot more than I would appreciate not knowing at all. I would also appreciate not getting verified botnet activity coming down from my ISP.

Not every place in WV is like Coalwood of Rocket Boys fame. The chemical industry employs a ton of chemical engineers here in the Kanawha valley, also known as the chemical valley. It is true that the mining communities are often poor, but at least they are actually working instead of just collecting welfare. Still, to say that all of WV is hopelessly poor is a lousy generalization. With $250,000 considered a cheap house in Martinsburg, WV, I would say that's a pretty wealthy town.

I think the definition of "subscriber" has changed since 2000. Back then, AOL was mainly an ISP. Now, they do search, ads, IM, internet radio, etc., but few still use them as an ISP. If you look at their site, they only offer dial-up service. By your (unsourced) count, there are more dial-up users on AOL now than there were in 2000. I'm calling BS. I can't see them needing an entire class A subnet anyway. The only reason they have one is that they were around during the beginning of the commercialized internet and have never given any of it back.

Maybe we should reclaim some of AOL's massive block of addresses. It would help a little in the short run. And they sure aren't using them.

How could you prove their guilt? If I bottle tap water from Las Vegas and sell it to someone in New York, you can't prove whether the New Yorker was in Vegas or just drank my crappy bottled water.

At least fleet vehicles will screw that up. What about when my wife drives my car? How will my mood affect this system? Will car insurance premiums be based on your fingerprint? I think it's more plausible that the fingerprint will have to be each vehicle/driver pair, or possibly every vehicle/driver/passenger/mood/weather conditions/other random variable combination. Just drive inconsistently to throw them off ;)