[RTC List] Tribute to inventors - consumer response to locked cell phones

[Sean McLaughlin]

A NYTimes item today is illuminated in the context of 700 Mhz auction 
and Skype's FCC petition:

Would today's pioneering technologists make Alexander von Humboldt proud?

For those following Federal policy - esp. vis-a-vis the 700 Mhz auction 
being planned by the FCC - key issues are open access, common carriage 
and interoperability.  Public interest advocates insist that people be 
allowed to attach equipment and use applications of their choice - 
without being locked in to one provider's network.  Industry titans want 
to develop proprietary devices and connections that maximize revenue on 
investment.  And consumers are caught in the middle.

There is a very distinct parallel to net neutrality in the cellular 
telephone industry that has the odd citation of a 1968 order relating to 
wireline telecommunications called the "Carterfone Order" (13 FCC 2d 
420) that revolutionized telephone service in the USA.  The current 
issue is reflected in a pending FCC petition by Skype about open access 
and interoperability of devices and applications connected by common 
carrier networks - seeking to apply the Carterfone Order principals to 
wireless providers.

Regarding the 700 Mhz auction, see attached from MAP's Harold Feld - and 
this item http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/5956/1/2.

Regarding "Carterfone" and the Skype petition, this item from Media 
Access Project is recommended:
*April 30, 2007 *MAP joined together with the Ad Hoc Public Interest 
Spectrum Coalition (PISC) in urging the FCC to prevent wireless 
providers from forcing consumers to purchase cellphones and other 
equipment directly from them. The Coalition's comments support a 
petition filed by Skype, that calls for the adoption of 
non-discrimination principles that would allow consumers to access 
wireless services with a cellphone of their choice. The coalition also 
asked the FCC to adopt further non-discrimination requirements that 
prevent wireless providers from blocking consumer access to certain 
advanced wireless internet features, internet applications and content.
http://www.mediaaccess.org/filings/SkypeComments.pdf

The idea is that consumers should be able to use their phones and the 
functions they support on any network of the subscribers choosing.  The 
locking of cell phones, and disabling of functions is a major 
anti-competitive practice common to cellular telephone providers.

In this context, today's item from the NYTimes is illuminating the role 
of inventors!

What would Archimedes do?


  With Software and Soldering, a Non-AT&T iPhone


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/technology/25iphone.html?th&emc=th


________________________________

with wonking whimsicality,

Sean McLaughlin



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