Facist America? Really?

[Ron]

This news item on Yahoo Canada threw me for a loop. Since when did the USA become a facist state? Did I miss the memo?
Remeber America? The place of liberty & freedom of choice.
There are many more examples but this just goes to show you where America is headed.

Unlocking your cell phone becomes illegal in the U.S. today

“UNLOCK YOUR IPHONE - $20” proclaim signs in front of shady electronics stores across North America. Soon, those signs will be a thing of the past south of the border, because as of Saturday, unlocking your phone in the United States is a crime.

Contrast that paragraph with a paragraph about Canada at the end.

As for what this means for Canadians, it looks like we’re pretty safe. The unlocking of cell phones in Canada is deemed a legal practice based on Bill C-343 or the ‘Cell Phone Freedom Act.’ According to the act, any phone can be legally unlocked in Canada at the end of a service contract by the provider, free of charge, if the phone was bought at a discounted rate (which is how many of us get out smartphones in Canada). If you don’t enter into a contract for at least six months or if you pay the full price of the phone, the provider must remove any network lock free of charge at your request.

Here is the link for the news story.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/right...mt-container-b

Anybody else notice the direction that America is taking, or that just the view from up north?

[AreYouReady?]

My friend, America did not become this way overnight.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

My friend, America did not become this way overnight.

Yup!

[AreYouReady?]

What's bad is when you cannot unlock a cheap prepaid phone.

[OnTheFritz]

This is goofy. Companies make proprietary equipment locked to their service all the time. Now cell phone companies are doing it - big deal. You have a choice when you choose a provider. So, are you suddenly mad that you can't take your Directv DVR or your Dish DVR or your AT&T Uverse DVR and make them work with other service providers? No? Same thing. Not saying we don't have the government trying to put restrictions on us, but this is a silly argument.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by OnTheFritz

This is goofy. Companies make proprietary equipment locked to their service all the time. Now cell phone companies are doing it - big deal. You have a choice when you choose a provider. So, are you suddenly mad that you can't take your Directv DVR or your Dish DVR or your AT&T Uverse DVR and make them work with other service providers? No? Same thing. Not saying we don't have the government trying to put restrictions on us, but this is a silly argument.

I buy a cell phone & have no cotract with a company & yet the said company works in collusion with the Government to say you can not use that phone with any other company??

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by OnTheFritz

This is goofy. Companies make proprietary equipment locked to their service all the time. Now cell phone companies are doing it - big deal. You have a choice when you choose a provider. So, are you suddenly mad that you can't take your Directv DVR or your Dish DVR or your AT&T Uverse DVR and make them work with other service providers? No? Same thing. Not saying we don't have the government trying to put restrictions on us, but this is a silly argument.

There is most definitely a grey area here when it comes to proprietary electronics designed for media and communications. For instance when Sony came out with their PlayStation 3 it had a number of features that it no longer has. The most notable was the PS3's support of Linux which was removed in subsequent (required) OS updates. Most agree it is one thing for a device to not support something and in fact attempt to make it illegal for the end user to attempt to add it (even though many think this in itself is bad enough) but quite another for a company to sell you something and retroactively eliminate features. This would be like purchasing a car and taking it in for an oil change 6 months later and finding they removed your car stereo and replaced it with an inferior model that doesn't even have a CD player.

[OnTheFritz]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

There is most definitely a grey area here when it comes to proprietary electronics designed for media and communications. For instance when Sony came out with their PlayStation 3 it had a number of features that it no longer has. The most notable was the PS3's support of Linux which was removed in subsequent (required) OS updates. Most agree it is one thing for a device to not support something and in fact attempt to make it illegal for the end user to attempt to add it (even though many think this in itself is bad enough) but quite another for a company to sell you something and retroactively eliminate features. This would be like purchasing a car and taking it in for an oil change 6 months later and finding they removed your car stereo and replaced it with an inferior model that doesn't even have a CD player.

I agree with that. But going forward, people will be aware of what they are getting for the price. Retroactive restriction are no good - I concur.

[OnTheFritz]

Originally Posted by Ron

I buy a cell phone & have no cotract with a company & yet the said company works in collusion with the Government to say you can not use that phone with any other company??

If you are buying a new phone and it is not linked to a provider, then it is already unlocked. If you are buying a used phone, it is either already unlocked or linked to a provider. Generally speaking, you cannot buy a new phone here without a contract to a company with a few exceptions.

[AreYouReady?]

It appears that Ron is giving but one example of corporations lobbying Congress to pass laws favorable to them making criminals of people who purchase their items and alter them. Corporations make pacts with other corporations. This would not happen if people weren't so greedy for the latest gadget.

If all these things were to fry because of a solar flare or an EMP attack, I would still get by because I am old enough to have lived before all the latest gadgets.