Comment Re:Colleges provide Education. They are *not* ISPs (Score 1) 105
Granted, colleges and universities are not ISPs. However, I think they have some quasi-ISP obligations. Why? Because students and their families fund these institutions and once the students go there, they are inside a virtual monopoly when it comes to getting higher-speed Internet access.
Students and/or their families pay taxes, tuition, housing fees, and often technology fees in support of residence halls at public institutions. In that sense, these students are paying "customers" of their colleges and universities. Also, they are called residence halls because students *live* in them. In essence, a residence hall is a student's home that they or their parents have paid for. So, due consideration should be given to students' personal network needs.
This is especially the case when students desire Internet access faster than 56K dialup for things such as voice over IP. If I am a student living in a university residence hall, my university may very well own both the phone network and the cable system for my room. So, it's not like I can just fork over money to a third party and get DSL, a cable modem, or ISDN. I have no choice but to use the University's network (which I or my family have helped to fund) for higher-speed access in the place where I live.
Given that students and their families contribute greatly to the expense of campus networks, and given that students have no other easy way to get fast in-room connections, I think students do have a right to use the network for personal ends that are practical and within reason. In my mind, DialPad qualifies.
Students and/or their families pay taxes, tuition, housing fees, and often technology fees in support of residence halls at public institutions. In that sense, these students are paying "customers" of their colleges and universities. Also, they are called residence halls because students *live* in them. In essence, a residence hall is a student's home that they or their parents have paid for. So, due consideration should be given to students' personal network needs.
This is especially the case when students desire Internet access faster than 56K dialup for things such as voice over IP. If I am a student living in a university residence hall, my university may very well own both the phone network and the cable system for my room. So, it's not like I can just fork over money to a third party and get DSL, a cable modem, or ISDN. I have no choice but to use the University's network (which I or my family have helped to fund) for higher-speed access in the place where I live.
Given that students and their families contribute greatly to the expense of campus networks, and given that students have no other easy way to get fast in-room connections, I think students do have a right to use the network for personal ends that are practical and within reason. In my mind, DialPad qualifies.
