idea for a much needed application

[Raffael Cavallaro]

Darin McBride <darin at naboo.to.org.no.spam.for.me> wrote in message news:<mwZl9.443653$Ag2.18610813 at news2.calgary.shaw.ca>...

> it's only a matter of time before always-on internet becomes a reality
> for anyone who wants it, and there will be no need for any other
> solution.

I think you're both missing two very important facts: 

1. Many broadband providers are local monopolies - if you wan't
reliable broadband where I am, for example, you can only go through
one company, and I'm in a major metropolitan market with a much higher
than average proportion of researchers and engineers (hint, MIT and
Harvard are my neighbors).

2. Many broadband providers don't allow you to run a server on your
client machine. They can impose this restriction because - you guessed
it - they are local monopolies, and if you don't like their
restrictions, you don't have any competitors to turn to.

Now, yes, you could pay significantly more for a commercial package
from this same monopoly provider which permits you to run your own
server, but  most of the people with "always-on internet" will be
prevented from running their own server by the broadband provider's
TOS.