Re: Blackberry Storm update

Larry wrote:
"Carl" <crothman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:49f48c70$0$22530$607ed4bc@xxxxxx:

In a free, capitalistic society, Larry, companies, like individuals,
have the right to produce the product they choose to produce, market
what they want to market, and sell what they want to sell (as long as
they don't lie or misrepresent). If what they produce doesn't suit
the public, then market forces should prevail to force them to adapt
or to go out of business. There is no Big Brother telling them what
to do, nor should there be (except perhaps, in the limited examples
of healthcare and finance, public-good services, areas in which
competition and market forces do not seem to work. And even that's my
own opinion.)

Companies, Verizon or otherwise, owe you nothing.

Sounds great, but doesn't wash. Sellphone companies operate on the
PUBLIC'S AIRWAVES, at the PUBLIC'S convenience. It's NOT their
airwaves, it's OURS, yours and mine.

Now, all we have to do to correct these problems is fire the ***
lawyers at the FCC who are SUPPOSED to be looking our for OUR
interests, not theirs, and put the stoic old engineers who used to
look out for OUR interests back at the helm of the FCC before the
lawyercrooks got rid of them.

Without a LICENSE, Verizon can do anything it wants to anyone it wants
any way it wants outside of a felony, of course. If we simply tell
the Verizon shell companies that hold the licenses how WE think
sellphones should be marketed in America, and if they disagree we'll
simply CANCEL their licenses to find someone who wishes to be in the
sellphone business with a more ethical and friendly manner....we can!

You cannot drive your car any shitty old way you like because you are
LICENSED by the people to have that priviledge. Similarly, sellphone
companies are LICENSED to provide a level of service the owners of the
airwaves, US, expect them to provide as a REQUIREMENT for us issuing
them a valid radio operation license on OUR airwaves. That license
can be revoked, making sellphone companies a LOT more friendly to its
customers in the process.....(c;]

Putting the old engineers back in charge of the FCC will have a nice
secondary effect, too. They'll rebuild the broadcasting business by
going back to the rules and regulations like forcing broadcasters who
want a LICENSE renewed to actually provide PROGRAMMING for 40 minutes
of every hour, instead of it just being a little fill-in between the
incessant commercials American TV has on it now under the lawyers.

Just imagine....TV with something to WATCH on it, again! What a
concept!

None of which has to do with whether a cell phone company decides it can't
give all its customers unlimited data plans for only $x/month when it
figures that it either has to charge $y/month or limit the access to 5GB. Or
whether that same company feels that it is economically feasible to provide
unlimited text messaging for free or charge $1.00 per message, or whether
they feel that they will be more sound financially by locking out certain
features on their phones and then charging the customers for opening them
up.

What you're proposing is intense government regulation of the cell phone
industry through its power to license and using that power as a gun to the
head of these companies to force them to what? Give away services for below
their cost? Go under? Let's do remember that these are publicly traded
companies and they have stock holders to answer to in terms of profits and
losses. Their goal is to make their stock rise so their shareholders can be
happy with the management. That's capitalism. Now if you think there's
something wrong with the system, we can talk about that, but we need to stop
blaming Big Business for trying to do what it's paid and designed to do.

I'd like to see the government become more active in regulating the
insurance, healthcare, and financial industries way before I'm going to
worry about a relatively non-essential area like cell phones.

Btw, like you, I am a licensed ham radio operator and have been for a long
time. I can relate to your 'licensing' and 'distribution of the public
airways' arguments, but I think they're irrelevant to the faults you find
with cell phone companies.


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