[RF_Savage]

Proper PoE sources have active per port current monitoring and will disable the PoE power in case of an over current event.

[esseph]

You can be over the thermal capacity of the cable without having too much draw on the port.

[izacus]

So the situation would be: you create a setup, buy devices and then they randomly shutdown as they pull too much current? How is that better than having a well defined standard that ensures compatibility?

[crote]

The device first negotiates a certain current capability. If a device explicitly asks for 15W and then goes on to draw 60W, you can hardly call it a "random" shutdown: it is clearly misbehaving, so it is best to shut it down to prevent further damage.