A VoIP Contract Review

While aimlessly surfing, I ran into Sky VoIP’s terms of service. So, I decided to check it out.  Here are some of my observations:

Place of Use:

Use of Service and CPE Outside of the Prescribed Area
Bayantel does not support the Service to Subscribers located outside the locality where the Service is acquired. Bayantel does not offer any warranty on the functionality should the subscriber opt to use the Service outside the locality. Subscriber does at Subscriber’s own risk, removal and usage of the device outside of the covered area.
x x x

Bayantel reserves the right to terminate Subscriber’s Service immediately and without advance notice if it determines that Subscriber is using it outside its prescribed area.  (underscoring supplied).

Let’s see.  The contract doesn’t say where the “prescribed area” is although I presume it’s the subscriber’s address (who knows?).  The mention of the ‘locality where the service is acquired’ might be a little confusing becuase the service is delivered over the Net.  Is the service acquired where Sky’s facilities are located or at the subscriber’s location? Your guess is as good as mine. 

What’s clear is that you can’t take the Sky VoIP router outside the Philippines to say, an OFW relative in Hong Kong so you can reach each other via a local phone call.  Or for that matter, you can’t take the router with you when you travel.  Fair enough.

Permissible Uses:

Prohibited Uses
Subscriber agrees to use the Service and CPE according to existing laws of the Philippines. Subscriber should not violate any applicable local, national or international law.

Sounds good.  But it continues.

Subscriber must abide by the generally accepted rules of conduct relating to proper use of VoIP resources.

Hmmm.  I’ve never heard of “generally accepted rules of conduct relating to the proper use of VoIP.” Do they mean to say I can’t talk dirty using VoIP?  Should I reserve that kind of speech for my regular phone line?   But the provision continues.

This means that you are not using the service for any commercial or governmental activities.

So, I can’t use it for my business nor can I use it to call any government office (like the fire station or a government hospital). Nor can I receive calls for my business or calls from any government office.  Now, since I work and live in U.P., I guess I can’t comply with this provision  without hanging up on everyone who calls.  But it gets better.  Here’s the continuation of the provision:

The Service prohibits the Subscriber from using their line for profit-making or non-profit (tele voting, telemarketing, extensive call forwarding) activities.

Okay.  That rules out calling my wife or children or taking calls from anyone who wants to make money or doesn’t care about making money at all.  I think I can’t take calls from the clergy either since that’s a non-profit activity.  Nor can I call the 700 Club to make a donation.

Damn it! I can’t think of anything I do that’s neither a profit-making or a non-profit making activity.  I’m screwed. In order to comply with my contractual obligations, I’ll have to refrain from using the service especially since a violation of this provision invokes this:

Bayantel reserves the right to terminate Subscriber’s service immediately and without advance notice if Subscriber has violated the above restrictions, leaving Subscriber responsible for the full month’s charges to the end of the current term, including without limitation unbilled charges, plus a disconnection fee, all of which must be paid and settled.

Yikes!

If you think this is bad, read Clause No. 3 and tell me if Sky is serious about service level obligations.

:p