I agree with you on all counts. But there is a curious business model that is opened up by the US's draconian SMS arrangements, and that's free digital integrat

I agree with you on all counts. But there is a curious business model that is opened up by the US's draconian SMS arrangements, and that's free digital integration. Companies like Swaggle, 3Jam, Twitter, and Dodgeball all get full cooperation from carriers because they encourage MORE received texts. If carriers didn't charge for received texts, these services would be creating situations where the users save and the carriers lose. (At least at first. You can probably successfully argue that Dodgeball and Twitter eventually encourage the users to send more texts once they're naturalized.) But as it stands, cheap SMS integration into web apps is a boon for startups with a mobile twist. (That being said, carriers are still running a cartel in the US...)