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Sweeps,

You are getting too sensitive - you just haven't proved it's unethical as far as the ISP goes.

I haven't "cheated" anybody out of anything, other than the neighbor.

America is kind of weird place in that you think I have some ethical obligation to worry about the variable and fixed expenses of Verizon? Kinda like a weird version of Corporate Welfare?

I have no ethical obligation to Verizon.

What you are then suggesting is that it would be unethical for my development to form a community center with a TV and cable connection because it would harm Sony, Zeneith, and Comcast because everybody may throw their TV and cable connections out and all of us watch Jeapordy every night at 7:30.

Pooling resources, either formally or informally, is not illegal or unethical - in fact, it's smart business.

It's part of frugality.

My neighbor's welfare - yes. That is the ethical dilemma and the posters have satisfied me in that it may bring harm, however miniscule to him by affecting his internet performance he paid in good faith for.

I am not, however, worried about any ethical violation to Verizon.

BTW, this is interesting stuff - a little company years ago decided that businesses were being charged too much money for long distance. So, in an effort to "bypass" Bell (the Bells may be before your time - there used to be one phone co.) and compete, they put "microwave transmissions" on top of their high rises and bypassed Bell/AT&T for long distance.

Their long distance bills were 1/10th of what Bell/AT&T charged.

If AT&T had left well enough alone, nothing much probably would have happened other than a loss of a few million per year.

But they cried "foul and unethical."

So the judges examined AT&T's practice and found yes, indeed you were charging too much and they could see the business's point.

So, they said, "Gee, your a monopoly" and broke them up.

The company was called MCI (Microwave Communications Incorporated) and it changed the face of telecommunications and probably laid down the foundation for the formation of the internet.

A company is not afforded the same ethical rights as an individual is. A corporation, although recognized as a seperate entity by the IRS, does not eat, breath, feel pain.