Cable Companies Can No Longer 'Rent' You the Router You Already Own

Is your internet service provider charging you every month for the cable modem or router that you purchased with your own money? Or, perhaps, have you never bothered to buy those items because you couldn't escape the fee? That fee is illegal as of yesterday. From a report: Last year, Congress passed a law that should have fixed this ridiculous loophole as of June 20th, 2020 -- and though the FCC managed to extend the deadline six months by spinning up some bullshit about how cable companies didn't have the resources to stop charging you money, the law should take full effect Monday. Do note that the actual text of the law still allows some BS to occur. If your ISP sends you a router, you'll need to return it to avoid charges. Frontier in particular has been notorious for charging customers $10 a month for their equipment "whether you use it or not" -- the company's words, not mine -- but Frontier is clearly aware it won't be able to do that anymore. Starting this month, the company's equipment page has changed to remove the part where it talks about the mandatory fee.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.