For years wireless carriers have had played fast and loose with the word “unlimited,” advertising their services as such but then quietly imposing caps (usually 5 Gbps) or other restrictions. While Verizon Wireless had their wrist slapped back in 2007 for the practice by New York’s Attorney General, that still didn’t stop many carriers from continuing the practice. Now T-Mobile is being sued in California for inaccurately advertising their limited (10 GB) data services for smartphones as unlimited. Complains the suit:

The only warning given to consumers, according to the suit, is a statement “on the very last page of a T-Mobile brochure, buried in minuscule type barely readable, that ‘Your data session may be slowed, suspended, terminated, or restricted if you use your service in a way that interferes with or impacts our network or ability to provide quality service to other users …”

Parts of the suit are melodramatic for effect, lawyers arguing that the surprise limit makes smartphones “essentially useless for anything other than making or receiving phone calls and text messages.” T-Mobile’s current 10 GB cap is rather generous, and last we checked, unlike some other carriers, T-Mobile only throttles users who cross it they don’t impose unreasonable overages or boot users from the network.

All of that said, the solution for carriers who don’t want suits, user complaints or AG investigations seems pretty simple: stop using the word unlimited, and make your service restrictions clear. False advertising is false advertising, and wireless carriers have been trying to have their cake and eat it too on this front for years. The definition of unlimited is clear, and burying limits for your “unlimited” data plans in fine print on page 50 of your terms of service doesn’t change that fact.

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Earlier this month, AT&T users in many markets suddenly found themselves with crippled upstream speeds with some users unable to even exceed 50 kbps. AT&T quickly responded to the complaints, noting that they’d found a software defect in Alcatel-Lucent equipment (which isn’t in all markets). While an AT&T statement at the time claimed AT&T was “providing normal 3G uplink speeds and consistent performance,” that wasn’t really the case; users spent most of this month dealing with these crippled speeds.

But based on a tests this morning in the NY/NJ area, it looks like AT&T’s finally deploying a software patch. No comment yet from AT&T if they have a timeline for all impacted markets.

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Users in a significant number of markets are complaining that they’re suddenly seeing their upstream iPhone speeds capped at just 100 kbps (if that, some users report closer to 50 kbps). Given AT&T’s 2008 HSUPA upgrades, those speeds should be at least 800 kbps. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the speed issues with consumers from NYC to Orlando reporting problems but other users (like in Dallas) seeing nothing unusual. While it’s possible that AT&T throttled upstream service in many markets to help manage congestion during the holiday weekend, a technical problem seems more likely given the severity of these problems.

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TiVo’s future depends, in large part, on cable companies embedding the TV software into their set top devices. So it’s interesting to see TiVo file comments with the FCC blasting the cable industry for making life as an independent set top creator annoyingly difficult.

According to TiVo, cable operators discriminate against third-party box providers by imposing licenses and conditions that intentionally tie TiVo’s hands. TiVo also complains that the tru2way middleware necessary to embed advanced functionality is restricted by “costly and strict license agreements.” Of course if you ask the cable industry, they’ll say that the CableCARD died because consumers didn’t want it – not because they made life hard for device makers so they couldn’t erode lucrative set top rental fees.

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Last week AT&T tried their best to get Verizon’s new ad campaign shuttered. The series of ads poke fun at AT&T’s lackluster 3G coverage and network performance, something AT&T didn’t find amusing. Verizon has now filed their 53 page legal retort (warning: PDF document) to AT&T’s complaint, which as you’d expect argues that illustrating AT&T’s network limitations is a perfectly fair form of advertising. On page seven sits this gem: “AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon s ‘There s A Map For That’ advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon s ads are true and the truth hurts.” As for AT&T’s claim that the maps used to highlight AT&T’s 3G coverage are unfair? “AT&T does not like the truthful picture painted by that comparison,” says Verizon.

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