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If I remember correctly, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T have all settled class-action lawsuits regarding their locked down handsets after consumers claimed it was an

If I remember correctly, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T have all settled class-action lawsuits regarding their locked down handsets after consumers claimed it was anti-competitive. 1 step forward, 10 steps backwards. How is this happening? > Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on June 1, 1929, Dr. Billington was. . . Oh, the guy who just decided unlocking smartphones should be illegal was born in 1929? Cool. That's how rotary phones used to work, right?

adventured 14y ago
Age has nothing to do with it. Ideas held, does. Dr. Billington believes the government should have that kind of authority. It's no more complicated than that, and it tells you all you probably need to know about what the man believes - whether he's 20, or 90.
firefoxman1 14y ago
> That's how rotary phones used to work, right? Haven't LOL'd at an online comment in a long time. In all seriousness, he grew up in the era where AT&T owned the phone line all the way into your house AND the phone itself! I guess he misses the old days...
pbhjpbhj 14y ago
>Oh, the guy who just decided unlocking smartphones should be illegal was born in 1929? Cool. That's how rotary phones used to work, right? // Rotary [dial] phones weren't locked to a particular provider were they? You could buy anyone's phone and connect it to your line and indeed buy any line and connect it to your phone - post network standardisation at least.
- colomon 14y ago
  For a long time they weren't just provided by the phone company, they were owned by the phone company. The theory (at least as presented to the public) was you couldn't let ordinary people hook anything they wanted to the phone lines -- think of the potential for chaos!
- Spooky23 14y ago
  Bell Systems phones ("telephonic instruments") were owned by the Bell System, not by you. You were prohibited from modifying it in any way. That included moving the phone from room to room or attaching any kind of accessory to the phone.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
alayne 14y ago
The idea that someone's age prevents them from making good decisions about technology is offensive to me. It's a bullshit argument. Martin Cooper, inventor of the cellphone, was born in 1928.
No1 14y ago
I also had to look up who the heck the Librarian of Congress was. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Billington http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Billington Yep, we've got an 83 year-old historian making legal edicts regarding cell phones.
- saurik 14y ago
  It isn't just him (and arguably it isn't him at all: its people he has working under him); I got a chance to meet some of the people on the panel when they were at the hearings in LA, and they actually seemed quite "with it" (although certainly not "technology expert", but that's asking a lot).
  - No1 14y ago
    Yes, there is no way he is making the decision himself, or even capable of doing so. That's exactly my point. Yet somehow he's in charge of the whole show? In any case, TFA does give him sole credit for the edict. More to the point, why exactly does the Librarian of Congress' staff have authority over cell phones? Oh, because it involves the DMCA. Supposedly, the DMCA was made for copyright, like books and music recordings. Books and music fall under the interests of the library. So do cell phones? That's just too much of a stretch. Either the law is being applied far too broadly, or the DMCA is really outside of the purview of the Library of Congress.

adventured 14y ago

Age has nothing to do with it. Ideas held, does. Dr. Billington believes the government should have that kind of authority. It's no more complicated than that, and it tells you all you probably need to know about what the man believes - whether he's 20, or 90.

firefoxman1 14y ago

> That's how rotary phones used to work, right? Haven't LOL'd at an online comment in a long time. In all seriousness, he grew up in the era where AT&T owned the phone line all the way into your house AND the phone itself! I guess he misses the old days...

pbhjpbhj 14y ago

>Oh, the guy who just decided unlocking smartphones should be illegal was born in 1929? Cool. That's how rotary phones used to work, right? // Rotary [dial] phones weren't locked to a particular provider were they? You could buy anyone's phone and connect it to your line and indeed buy any line and connect it to your phone - post network standardisation at least.

colomon 14y ago
For a long time they weren't just provided by the phone company, they were owned by the phone company. The theory (at least as presented to the public) was you couldn't let ordinary people hook anything they wanted to the phone lines -- think of the potential for chaos!
Spooky23 14y ago
Bell Systems phones ("telephonic instruments") were owned by the Bell System, not by you. You were prohibited from modifying it in any way. That included moving the phone from room to room or attaching any kind of accessory to the phone.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

alayne 14y ago

The idea that someone's age prevents them from making good decisions about technology is offensive to me. It's a bullshit argument. Martin Cooper, inventor of the cellphone, was born in 1928.

No1 14y ago

I also had to look up who the heck the Librarian of Congress was. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Billington http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Billington Yep, we've got an 83 year-old historian making legal edicts regarding cell phones.

saurik 14y ago
It isn't just him (and arguably it isn't him at all: its people he has working under him); I got a chance to meet some of the people on the panel when they were at the hearings in LA, and they actually seemed quite "with it" (although certainly not "technology expert", but that's asking a lot).
- No1 14y ago
  Yes, there is no way he is making the decision himself, or even capable of doing so. That's exactly my point. Yet somehow he's in charge of the whole show? In any case, TFA does give him sole credit for the edict. More to the point, why exactly does the Librarian of Congress' staff have authority over cell phones? Oh, because it involves the DMCA. Supposedly, the DMCA was made for copyright, like books and music recordings. Books and music fall under the interests of the library. So do cell phones? That's just too much of a stretch. Either the law is being applied far too broadly, or the DMCA is really outside of the purview of the Library of Congress.