RSS
The Return Of California's Telco Bill Of Rights
from the self-regulation-ain't-working-apparently dept
A year and a half ago, California passed a "Cellular Bill of Rights" to help protect consumers against some of the more questionable practices of mobile operators. The operators, of course, were not pleased. They claimed that self-regulation would keep the operators honest -- but years of hidden fees, unwillingness to fix dead spots (even when at home) and various systems to lock up customers in long term contracts even when service can't be provided suggests that self-regulation has failed in many areas. Still, a year ago, California tore up the cellular bill of rights, after the carriers challenged it. However, a year has gone by and apparently the "self-regulation" still isn't doing much, because we've now got a new California Telco Bill of Rights being proposed. It would create a special unit of about thirty people, whose only job would be to investigate consumer complaints about fraudulent practices by telcos. Not only that, but since this would cover all telcos (not just mobile operators), the proposed bill would also enforce network neutrality while requiring telcos to offer DSL without phone service (naked DSL). While this sounds like a very reasonable proposal, it's still a bit troublesome that this is only being set on a state level. The risk is that telcos suddenly have to abide by 50 different sets of regulations, one from every state. It would make a lot more sense to set something like this up at the national level to keep the telco oligopoly under control -- but our current FCC seems to simply roll over when it comes to telcos.
4 Comments | Leave a Comment..
- Schrödinger's Download: Whether Or Not An iTunes Music Sale Is A 'Sale' Depends On Who's Suing
- We Don't Have A 'Wild West' Internet Now, But We Will If SOPA Or Similar Is Passed
- One Nation, Under Guard
- Supreme Court Denies Appeal For The Pirate Bay Founders
- White House Says It Can't Comment On Possible Chris Dodd Investigation
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
No Subject Given
Well, I don't think it's likely to be 50 per state. =)
But I do see the possibility of various local government entities passing something similar if their state is slow about passing something...
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Net Neutrality
The concept is, on the surface, sound, but the deeper you go, the more problems there are and the more lobbyists there are.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
Heh. Whoops, that was worded awkwardly. :) Thanks for pointing it out. I tried to clear it up.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
state and federal
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Add Your Comment