No, they don't. Well people that tether don't. Uncapping however, is a different story. Remember when broadband first came out, and supposedly the cable companies were suppose to charge a premium if they found out you were using a router. It said right in my old contract that using a router was forbidden unless it was provided by the cable company. And even then, it was an additional full price subscription per additional PC. I wish I was joking, but I'm dead serious.
It's called market demand. People are demanding that tethering be allowed. And quite frankly, Verizon would be in deep trouble if we actually had a true open market in the wireless industry.
The biggest argument against tethering is that it slows the network down.
This exact same argument was used when broadband first came out. It was said if broadband went mainstream, the internet would actually collapse, because there wasn't enough bandwidth. It was a valid concern at the time since most datacenter's only had T1 connections, and broadband speed was generally faster than a single T1. They were right about one thing, broadband did change the internet alright, except it caused it to thrive more than ever, and the predictions of doom never came.
Maybe perhaps for now it would cause higher congestion, but necessity is the mother of invention.
But ultimately, this is a net neutrality argument. Verizon thinks it should have the right to control how their customers use the bandwidth they (the customers) are paying for. I am buying the ability to access the internet from my phone. How I use that connection is my own business.
Imagine if land-line phone companies charged you an additional monthly fee for every single jack you have installed. Then, when they found out you had bypassed their outrageous fees by plugging a splitter and installing the jacks yourself, cut your service off.
Or even better, imagine if land-line companies blocked your ability to send faxes unless you bought a "fax package" from them. Well, there is a reason they don't do that (or they probably would) It's illegal. They are not allowed to prevent you from calling someone.
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