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Businesses are not under a general obligation to facilitate the activities of their competitors. Nor is Verizon a monopoly in the usual sense, upon which specia
by nknight 15y ago
Businesses are not under a general obligation to facilitate the activities of their competitors. Nor is Verizon a monopoly in the usual sense, upon which special obligations might be placed.
Unless some sort of settlement were reached, you'd basically have to prove ISIS is a "contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce" (15 U.S.C. §1). That would be an expensive, multi-year legal battle by itself, and may or may not succeed. Then there's the question of what to actually do about it, which isn't necessarily going to be "oh, just allow other payment providers".
- wmf 15y agoThe 700 MHz spectrum that Verizon uses for their LTE network has neutrality restrictions, including "Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2008_wireless_spectrum_auction#Google_involvement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2008_wireless_spe... Blocking an app would appear to violate that rule. However, Google may be "voluntarily" witholding Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus to avoid regulatory problems.
- RKearney 15y agoWould that then spell trouble for an LTE iPhone on Verizon's network considering you can't download and utilize any software you desire?
- freehunter 15y agoI'm sure the intent of the law was "the carrier cannot restrict apps that are available on other carriers."
- wmf 15y agoUpdate: ”Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product.” http://www.splatf.com/2011/12/verizon-google-wallet/ http://www.splatf.com/2011/12/verizon-google-wallet/