XPost: alt.comp.software.thunderbird   
   From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Mon, 2/23/2026 11:18 AM, R.Wieser wrote:   
   > Paul,   
   >>   
   >> You're not supposed to be running *any* server on a $39.95   
   >> per month consumer plan.   
   >   
   > Why not ?   To an ISP its the ammount of data that counts.   Also, having a   
   > home server for VPN access from your smartphone (and than out into the world   
   > again)  is a rather accepted thing to do.   Heck, the some modems/routers   
   > have build-in VPN server capabilities.   
   >   
   > Heck, even my own internet modem has port-forwarding capabilities - for   
   > exactly that purpose.   
      
   Check the TOS. A sampling here.   
      
      https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18238827   
      
   Unlimited accounts are not unlimited. If the plan is $39.95, and   
   a gigabyte costs $0.03 on Level3, then there is a cap of how   
   many gigabytes can be sent... before the ISP loses money. This   
   is lightly covered in the TOS by "you may not do anything with   
   the service which inconveniences or affects other users at our ISP".   
      
   Someone actually tried to do that. The operator of PostImage,   
   rented server space which had some sort of unlimited terminology.   
   PostImage was running up a $30,000 per month bill for the ISP to support   
   their bandwidth on transit links. Eventually, a bill was sent   
   to the PostImage operator, asking for payment for this "overage".   
   Apparently the bandwidth per month is at the petabyte level.   
      
   Most commercial services have a defined value for the cap every   
   month. When I checked the price on Hetzner, I think I could   
   get a machine for $60 a month, and that included a 25TB cap.   
   These are considered to be commercial servers, and you   
   have to install and administer the server type yourself. The OS   
   is installed for you, as far as I know, and you can install   
   or compile your own packages to run on it.   
      
   Look at Gallaxial as an example of a server run from   
   someones basement. Due to at least some ISP options   
   being "asymmetric", the upload direction is slow, and   
   running a USENET server that way, it doesn't exactly   
   give you a read-only USENET service that runs fast. The   
   limitation on the free servers is mostly the software   
   stack, the hardware having much more capability than the   
   software can use.   
      
   If the TOS is written in wishy-washy language ("to cover everything"),   
   there may not be an honest admission of the "rules". If you step   
   out of line, they'll make something up.   
      
   When the AIOE admin, Paolo, made some casual comments about   
   what he thought of his COLO provider, in terms of service   
   and support, they subscribed to that Google alerter service,   
   where any mention of a keyword, Google would send an email   
   about it. When the COLO found out about the (quite reasonable)   
   comments, they instantly closed his account and took his   
   server. He could not rescue the content. And the reason   
   they could get away with that was... Italian law. That's   
   an extreme example of what the blowback can be when you   
   engage a commercial service. Absolutely over the top response.   
   That's why Paolos next rental to run AIOE, was a German server   
   under German law. It took about six months in total, to create   
   brand new web server content for the site. The INN server   
   didn't take that long to set up.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)