Comcast

[mark-OGhnF3Lt4opAfugRpC6u6w at public.gmane.org (Mark J. Dulcey)]

Richard Pieri wrote:
> On Nov 12, 2009, at 11:35 AM, Laura Conrad wrote:
>> But the TOS doesn't actually prohibit all servers.  It just says you
> 
> Quote from http://www.comcast.net/terms/use/#prohibited
> * use or run dedicated, stand-alone equipment or servers from the Premises that provide network content or any other services to anyone outside of your Premises local area network (?Premises LAN?), also commonly referred to as public services or servers. Examples of prohibited equipment and servers include, but are not limited to, e-mail, Web hosting, file sharing, and proxy services and servers;
> * use or run programs from the Premises that provide network content or any other services to anyone outside of your Premises LAN, except for personal and non-commercial residential use;
> 
> Make of it what you will.

However, with Comcast you also have the option of buying their business 
class service; it costs more but has different terms of service 
(http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/shop/business/acceptableuse.html) that 
allow you to run servers -- IF your service includes one or more static 
IP addresses (and their web site doesn't tell how much they cost). To 
get business class services from Verizon you also have to convert all 
telephone lines at your address to business service, which is 
considerably more expensive than home service, in addition to paying the 
added cost of business DSL or FIOS, and they have a similar requirement 
for the more expensive service with static IPs.

Unfortunately, although the Comcast terms of service for business 
internet do not prohibit servers, they still contain a lot of the other 
problematic clauses that are in their residential contracts, such as 
their right to use "reasonable" network management practices, and to 
block ports for "safety and security purposes".