Or perhaps it's just true that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Apparently Apple's preferred ISP had adopted a pricing plan that had some folks up in arms. The policy was phrased in a somewhat confusing fashion, implying the extra charge would only be triggered by a second, simultaneous login to the service. However, the ISP's EarthLink's Senior Public Relations Manager, Kurt Rahn, in a conversation with me, made it perfectly clear the policy also included shared access. This meant, for example, that users of Apple's AirPort Base Station, a modem sharing hub, or an Internet sharing program such as IPNetRouter would have to ante up also.
Same thing applies for Internet service.
The very idea clearly didn't appeal to folks who develop products that allow for shared access, such as Peter Sichel of Sustainable Softworks, publishers of IPNetRouter. With IP masquerading, only one computer with a single IP address is connected to the Internet. Finally, the analogy Rhan offers is not very compelling upon closer examination. Earthlink has never promoted their service plans as an 'all you can use' buffet and does not offer an alternative 'a la carte' menu. Charging more for shared access bears no relation to the underlying cost of providing the service.