rant about Qwest + Microsoft

[David P. Schwartz]

When I got DSL service from USWest, uswest.net came along as baggage.  No choice.

Qwest entered into an agreement where their Qwest.net customers are being assigned to MSN.  No choice.  It's not my choice to switch
anything.  How can you say they aren't forcing anything?  Anybody who doesn't switch voluntarily will get switched to MSN involuntarily.

I don't want MSN, and I don't want to wait the 2-3 weeks I've been told by other ISPs that it will take to get hooked up with them --
that's AFTER my Qwest DSL has been disconnected!  (Or have I been mis-informed?)

It'll cost $14.95/mo to "upgrade" to OfficeWorks, which offers static IPs, the opportunity to stay with Qwest.net, and keep using my 675
modem.  Does anybody know of any better deals?

-David

Kevin Brown wrote:

> They aren't forcing anything.  Only users of Qwest.net who do not switch to
> another ISP (but still have Qwest for the DSL line) will be switched to MSN.
>
> > Am I the only moron around that thinks it's Really STUPID -- and possibly
> > ILLEGAL -- for Qwest to be forcing their DSL customers to switch to use
> > Microsoft as their ISP???  I mean, here's one of the largest RBOCs in the
> > country forcing all of its accounts to switch to a company that has been
> > found guilty on the District Court and Appellete level of violating the
> > Sherman Antitrust Act.  And right there in their page explaining that
> > "Customer Service is our Top Priority" is says "In order to switch to MSN,
> > you MUST be running Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/Me/XP/2k as well as Internet
> > Explorer".  Hullo?  Is anybody in Legal Land out there?  Since when does the
> > type of service (eg., DSL) dictate that a particular operating system and
> > web browser be used???
> >
> > I don't think people would react so innocently if Qwest announced they were
> > partnering with the Ku Klux Klan to help manage their personnel
> > administration...  Microsoft is no less biased in their approaches than the
> > KKK is in theirs.  Yet I've seen absoluely nothing in the media addressing
> > this perverted alliance!
> >
> > I don't have a problem running Windows (I already do), but I do have a
> > problem being FORCED TO SWITCH, as well as adopting use of a browser that is
> > the target of most internet-based attacks.  The purpose of the Sherman
> > Antitrust Act was to foster competition -- presuming that would lead to
> > greater choices for consumers.  Would this deal be happening if Microsoft
> > weren't a monopoly???  Is there any coincidence that, in order to avoid
> > getting forced to switch to MSN, you have to disconnect your DSL service,
> > wait a couple of weeks, and then reconnect with another provider (over the
> > same wires and equipment) for a higher monthly cost?  They call this CHOICE?
> >
> > The biggest reason why it doesn't make sense is because OfficeWorks
> > customers and those running non-Windows systems don't have to switch!  (At
> > least, not right now.)
> >
> > Is anybody up to filing a class action suit against Qwest for consipiring to
> > aid and abet an established criminal activity?  This alliance wasn't
> > announced until after the Appeals court rejected Microsoft's claims and
> > referred the case back for re-sentencing.
> >
> > I wrote a letter to the State Corporation Commission about this, and got a
> > canned reply back saying that they do not regulate DSL service, so they
> > aren't the right people to complain to.  (This doesn't make sense, because
> > they regulate the wires and equipment and everything else that Qwest does;
> > so why is it that a different kind of transmission service over the same
> > wires and equipment isn't under their purview?)
> >
> > So who the heck do we complain to about this insanity?
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