No Bill Of Rights For Mobile Users... But, Uh...We'll Investigate Crappy Service
from the small-comforts dept
In 2004, California passed a mobile phone "bill of rights" designed to protect consumers from misleading statements from mobile operators -- basically helping people get out of onerous contracts within a reasonable period of time if (for example) there really wasn't service covering your home, despite a map that said there was. However, after the mobile operators went to court over the issue, the bill of rights was ditched. Late last year a new telco bill of rights was proposed that covered mobile operators as well as regular telco efforts -- such as DSL (mandating network neutrality). However, instead of passing that, it appears that regulators have instead passed what amounts to a PR statement about how they'll be tough on misleading mobile operators. It doesn't appear to guarantee any rights to users who find themselves stuck in bad contracts, but instead promises a special unit to "investigate" misleading claims from operators. That seems like a pretty weak solution. After all, shouldn't misleading claims already be investigated? Of course, the best solution would have been if regulation wasn't needed at all -- but so far, the operators haven't always shown a willingness to respond to customer complaints, and with users locked in for so long, there are some real consumer concerns.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
$print!!!!
any help you guys?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $print!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $print!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $print!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $print!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $print!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]