AT&T Cracks Down on Unofficial Tethering

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Once upon a time, jailbreaking our iPhones allowed us to be blissfully free from the clutches of Apple and AT&T’s official regulations. We used our data plans the way we wanted to, even if that included sharing it with our laptops and iPads. (All of this is rhetorical, of course. We would never actually do such a thing.)

But now it appears AT&T is cracking down on unofficial tethering methods. Most impacted by this sad news? The nifty app MyWi, which allows iPhone users to create a wireless hotspot to share their phone’s data connection with a laptop or other device. (It was released long before AT&T gave their green light to tethering last June.) MyWi can be used with no extra tethering fees, which is a direct rebellion again AT&T’s paid tethering plan. Loyal users of the app and other unsupported tethering apps are now receiving word that Big Brother has been watching.

AT&T is sending out emails to users suspected of tethering via an unofficial method, reminding them of the need to update to the official tethering plan — and explaining that laggards will be automatically subscribed to the DataPro 4GB package, at $45 a month. The email adds that, “If you discontinue tethering, no changes to your current plan will be required.”

(via OSXDaily)

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