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May 07, 2007
Phone companies are from crazyland
So, on top of the W administration trying to retroactively clear the telco's of being dirty, dirty sellouts for W's team, now Verizon is saying that selling out its customers is its first amendment right.
Come again ghostrider?
I have a bevy of questions/comments to this.
- Do the amendments even extend to corporate entities?
- The constitutionality aside, if you violate your own terms of service, don't you think that bears comment and/or apology?
- The "even talking about it is too much" arguement when applied to the topic of "reasons I shouldn't be held accountable for doing bad things" is getting soooo freaking old. We need more scooby doo moments where the foiled party says "I did it and I'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you nosy kids and your dog"
I feel like the national association of lawyers for telephone companies is hosting a competition for the most ridiculous statement introduced in a court of law and the lawyers are swinging for the fence.
I hope there's a nice prize...like maybe an set of golf clubs and a weekend in Boise, Idaho for 2.
Posted by bucjos at May 7, 2007 04:40 PM
Comments
So if they breached the terms of service does that mean I can get out of my contract without having to pay the extra fee?
Posted by: bleaus at May 7, 2007 05:53 PM
Good question. That'd be more of a civil action vs criminal but I wonder if you could float that as an argument?
That'd be awesome, a blanket "get out of your contract free" statement :)
Posted by: JoeBuck at May 7, 2007 05:55 PM
I'm not liking Verizon very much, since my switch to them from Cingular. I would love to be able to get out of the contract free of charge.
Posted by: bleaus at May 7, 2007 06:11 PM
As to the first one, it's likely yes, as a corporation is legally a person (which is the cause of so many problems...).
Which terms of services are you talking about? Businesses may have a case, but I don't think many residential customers sign any contracts for Verizon services. Companies like non-binding promises, as they make the customer happy but don't actually mean anything.
The whole first amendment stuff is an interesting argument, but if the information is restricted by law it's not really a good excuse, natural person or not. I'd guess the biggest chance they have may be if they can prove the information released was only about illegal activities.
bleaus - I think you're confusing Verizon and Verizon Wireless (they're different companies).
Posted by: Jeremy at May 7, 2007 08:21 PM
I thought that most contracts had stuff like "we won't sell you out completely" in them now? Or, at a minimum, some statement to the effect of privacy.
I think I was also assuming this was the wireless component. Whoops
Posted by: JoeBuck at May 7, 2007 08:50 PM
Yes, most contracts do. The catch is if there's no contract (such as for traditional landline service).
Posted by: Jeremy at May 7, 2007 09:44 PM