Welcome to the return of the Pinkertons.

Now you've done it. If the media companies reads this they are going to find out there is more than 1 torrent site.

If it was written by a guy named "Free" should is not have been "Free's Software" to make it possessive?

They must have made a change to the matrix.

I will only disagree with the "most popular" part of that statement as the Commodore 64, though late to the party, sold considerably more units during its shorter run (1982 - 1994) and thus would be the more popular of the two. Apple II series sold ~6million units during its run and the C64 sold ~17million. But when all is said and done the 1st computer I ever used was an apple ][ and it was the reason I fell in love with computers. So it is not the most important "home personal computer" it is on a very short list.

Ahh Voice....We had apple ][+'s and //e's in my school...crap I dating my self now...and I remember running SAM (Software Automated Mouth) on them. Needless to say as a Jr. High student we were basically just have fun making it curse. At home we would use my C64 and SAM to make prank phone calls. We were all such rebels then.

The DMV does not actually police. Yes they are a state agency but if your vehicle is stolen do you *want* the DMV to issue plates to the person that stole the car? If you file a police report because your phone is stolen do you want the thief to get service on your device? I under stand the difference between the two and would not have used a car as an analogy. I am however smart enough to not debate politics accept to say yes we do have enough problems already.

A cell phone is different because it requires service and the service provider has knowledge of both the theft (you wouldn't want them calling all round the world on your dime) and the unique identifier of the phone. If some one steals my VCR...well lets face it....good for them. I'm not even sure it still works ;-) But really....if they stole some piece of electronics gear I do actually care about I would hope they took something I had actually written down the serial number of. I would then, upon reporting the break in to the police, give them a list of the serial numbers I had for the stolen property. The police would then supply that information to pawn shops in an attempt to eliminate a possible avenue for the thieves to relieve them selves of their stolen goods.

Granted the thieves will most likely turn to the grey market of Craig's List and/or eBay to rid them selves of the stolen property they do not intend to use or keep. If they do keep it it's not like they need to call some provider to make it work.

No lets look at the 2nd point. AT&T, or any provider, should require a police report. If you had sold the phone and the next person attempts to get service and is blocked by AT&T they will then have to prove they purchased the phone or risk jail time. So, for the sake of argument let us say it was easy for them to prove they bought it from the original owner. This puts the seller/owner in a bit of a pickle. See the police are now going to knock on his door and take them to the police station where they will have to answer for filing a false police report.

More likely the seller will be the thief. Since the grey markets will have a record (IP of the poster, email addresses, phone numbers, paypal info, etc) they will need to find alternate ways to sell it. This makes it harder for the thieves to sell the phones and makes them less likely to want to steal the phones.

And on that note why did we also limit this to the iPhone?

My guess if AT&T has probably sold the most iPhones and they are the phone that sells for the highest premium making high on the list of phones for thieves who can then try to sell them through grey markets like Craig's List or eBay. Thus it makes it the most ripe for a lawyer to take a class action suit since they too are in it only for the profit as well.

Really? Ever heard of a service called "On-Star?" When you climb out from under your rock head down to the nearest GM dealership and ask them about the benefits of On-Star should your new GM ever get stolen. Granted they charge a premium for this after the first year. But during that first year the manufacturer (GM) will track down your stolen car, disable it from running, and alert the police of its location. I should also point out that AT&T did not manufacture the phone, Apple did. AT&T is more akin to the DMV and everyone else has already set you straight on the fact that the DMV will *NOT* allow a stolen vehicle to be registered. You may now open your mouth and insert your foot.

taH pagh, taHbe?

I think you missed the point. They are recouping the fees charged by Visa and Master Card. Those fees have recently increased by the way. This is way you can still pay on line for *FREE* if you pay though your checking account. This is also why most of the smaller restaurants in my area and I'm sure other areas of the US have $10 and $20 minimums for credit cards. It is also why my uncle, who was also a small business owner, did like it when people paid with credit cards. You really should look into where this money goes before judging verizon to harshly for trying to get some of that money back. I for one will continue to pay online as I always have. Through my checking account that they already have stored on their server.