Can DROID solve this problem?

[Twoo]

It is not illegal because they did not force you to buy a smart phone. They offer a myriad of phones that are capable of accessing the internet that do not require a data plan.

Exactly which law do you think this violates? While you may think it is unfair (I disagree) you cannot equate unfair with illegal. They are not the same thing.

And, by the way, you agreed to a contract knowing it would include a data plan. No one lied to you and said it wouldn't.

This person is correct.

There's nothing illegal about it. Believe it or not any business or store can refuse you business on the grounds that they don't want to do business with you. Because Verizon owns the rights to sell the phone they can choose which plans you have to purchase to have the phone.

IE: You can rent a cable modem from Comcast for $5.00 a month, but they won't rent it to you without internet service ; )

[Twoo]

EDIT:

I looked it up... it's not illegal- here's why...

If Verizon ONLY offered the Droid phone and mandated you MUST get a data plan, then it's illegal because the data plan is a plan "option" and the customer has no choice but to pay for an additional feature he/she may not use/want. ALTHOUGH, if Verizon have other phones available to the customer, giving the customers choices if they're unhappy with the "must have data plan with Droid phone" then it's not illegal.

In lament terms- because Verizon offers other phones with internet capabilities that do not require a data plan it is not illegal because the customer has a choice.

[RosarioM]

If you want to use the Droid with no Data plan, then buy it unsubsidized online for $599. The cost of the phone under a 2 year deal is subsidized by the price paid for the data/voice plan.

This is not correct. The 2 year contract is only for the voice portion. When I swapped out my Droid (which I got on my wife's line), I told them that I had switched it with my line (which already had a data plan). I even turned off the data plan on my wife's line. Verizon not only didn't say I couldn't do that, they even reactivated the replacement phone on my line.

Like someone else said, as soon as you activate the phone, no matter where you get it from, Verizon forces you to get a data plan. No ways around that. When you active a "dumb" phone, the data plan automatically comes off.

As far as the OP's argument and threats to Verizon. They have 80 million customers. They don't need you. You want to go to the FCC? They will say go get your phone from another carrier. ATT has the same restriction. Your only chance is with a much crappier provider like tmobile or Sprint.

Besides, why would you want to use a Mifi for data?? You know you have a 5gig cap, right? With the Droid data plan, there is no cap. so you might as well look to tether your Droid and get rid of that Mifi.

[RosarioM]

Forgot to mention one more thing. When I first activated my Droid (on my wife's line), the contacts and email sync ate up about 8mb of data. Once I switched the phone to my line, I didn't have the data plan on my wife's any longer and Verizon was going to charge me per MB, which is about $2.00 per MB (I think). Even with a setting, if you accidentally use the per MB data, you may get a pretty large bill one month.. Probably enough to pay for 2 years worth of monthly data charges.

[TigerDirect]

In lament terms...

Lament...lol

Anyway, to the OP...as the others have said, you're gonna have to have a data plan if you want a smartphone. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

Also, why not just ditch the MiFi and use teathering on the Droid (when it becomes officially available)? That way, you're only paying for one data plan.

[DeeRoid]

bottom line is....

and this is coming from a verizon employee...if you dont want to pay for a data plan then you dont need a smartphone/pda...trust me there are many other options of phones to choose from...AND the phones are not subsidized to make up for the data plan that you will have to be paying for in the coming months they are lowered because you are agreeing to be a customer for 1or 2 years and thats why you pay an early termination fee because you bought a discounted phone and it makes up for the cost of the phone if you do leave before your contract expires...you can buy a phone at full retail and go month to month but would still require to be attached to a number/ data plan...for all of you who do not want to pay for the data the only option is to go buy the phone on ebay or craigslist and just chose to never activate it but use wifi in that case u have no phone...

so moral of my rant is that if you do not want a data plan but want the phone then getting it without is just pointless because you will not be able to do anything on the phone...no market/apps, internet, maps (which is amazing by the way)...you would just be wasting your money and time

[New2u]

Besides, why would you want to use a Mifi for data?? You know you have a 5gig cap, right? With the Droid data plan, there is no cap. so you might as well look to tether your Droid and get rid of that Mifi.

The 5GB cap is correct, being able to tether it with unlimited data is still impossible, once you get the tether capability you once again only have 5GB.
If this is what you meant sorry.

[Backnblack]

If you wanna Play...You have to Pay.

Plain, simple, not illegal. (you have a choice not too....)

[RosarioM]

This thread is pointless and should be closed.