Android Tethering Teetering?
In the world of smartphones , "tethering" refers to the ability to share that phone's Internet data connection with another device such as laptop. In other words, if you did not have Internet access at your home, you might tether your laptop to your phone in order to use access the web—you would be effectively using the phone as modem.
The practice of tethering may or may not be in violation of your wireless provider's Terms Of Service (TOS), and the fact that tethering "apps" (software applications for smartphonwa and tablets) are available has not escaped the scrutiny of those providers. Some will in fact allow you to tether, but at additional cost or by only using methods they provide.
It should not come as a big surprise then, that several major US providers (AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile) have apparently approached Google to make changes to the Android Market so that the offending tethering apps will not show up for customers using that particular carrier's network if they would violate their TOS. The apps are not being "blocked" as such; they just won't show up any more on particular networks.
The fact that the apps are not being blocked means that one could circumvent this limitation by obtaining those apps from other sources, but again, this may put the user in violation of the TOS with their wireless carrier.
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