Verizon to charge for Exchange access on the DROID, probably on the honor system

For a carrier that isn't used to selling a whole lot of smartphones that don't have "BlackBerry" somewhere in the name, it might come as a surprise that not all devices require a different kind of back-end server to hit an Exchange account -- you know, the kind that'd allow you to charge an extra $15 a month for access. As such, the official company line is apparently that the DROID will require a $45 data plan (as opposed to a $30 one) if you want to hook up to an Exchange ActiveSync account somewhere on the interwebs. Thing is, data is data, and since the DROID doesn't require anything approximating a BES setup behind the scenes, we have no idea how this could be enforceable unless Verizon intends to block ports -- and considering what a hot-button topic net neutrality is right now, we're pretty sure they're not going to do that. The takeaway? Pay the extra $15 if you're feeling generous (or you own Verizon stock), but otherwise, we're willing to bet Exchange will work just fine on your basic plan.