When people ask me who my cell provider is, I sometimes feel apologetic for using Verizon; I explain that I pay more for data service than I would with other carriers because when I need data service on the side of a mountain in rural North Carolina where they barely have working phone lines, or in the middle of rural Wisconsin, half an hour drive away from a huge city with fewer than 8000 people, I get it, reliably.

I now have another reason. A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless because he uses AT&T, told me about the new AT&T terms of service. I can't do it any better justice than to simply quote it and let you form your own opinions:

AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes... (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.

Update: I have been informed that this draconian restriction on speech on the part of AT&T is specific to the unfortunate consumers of AT&T's "High-Speed Internet Service" and doesn't apply to wireless data plans. Yet.

On the other hand, for the wireless data plan:

PROHIBITED USES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ... (III) VOICE OVER IP

I'm suddenly glad that my AT&T-provided landline is provided as part of regulated monopoly and so (at least for now) it can't be yanked because someone at AT&T has read this blog entry.