Comment AT&T and Verizon are not "devicemakers" (Score 5, Informative) 75
Samsung is the device maker.
Ex-Marine Detained Under Operation Vigilant Eagle For His Political Views Sues 279
stry_cat writes "You may remember the story of Brandon Raub, who was detained without due process over some Facebook posts he made. Now with the help of the Rutherford Institute, he is suing his captors. According to his complaint [PDF], his detention was part of a federal government program code-named 'Operation Vigilant Eagle,' which monitors military veterans with certain political views."
Comment Re:Sounds reasonable to me. (Score 5, Informative) 573
Yep. Running servers is against Verizon's residential ToS. Regardless of how much BW the guy is using, he's breaking the rules.
Comment Re:Simple fix (Score 2) 338
You know they charge you if you don't do paperless billing, right? It's something like $3 or $4/month.
Comment Re:PUBLIC UTILIY? (Score 1) 338
You still cannot pay anyone you want for transmission or transition, as there is only one set of plant available to you for use. The generation part may be somewhat competitive and unregulated, but this is also typically the smallest part of the bill.
I pay 4.6c/kWh for generation, 6.0c for transmission, and 5c for transition.
You cannot typically set up rain collectors unless you purchase the runoff rights to your property. Otherwise you are stealing water. (depends on your state, but I am not aware of any Fee-Simple states that include runoff rights by default.
Many places with Gas also prohibit LP tanks for safety reasons. I've lived in several such cities where the rollout of NG was accompanied by a legal prohibition on in-home oil and LP storage.
Point is, your choices in terms of "utilities" are generally limited by statute in one way or another, in exchange for government protection against price gouging.
Cell phones are not a "utility."
Comment Re:PUBLIC UTILIY? (Score 2) 338
Your power company has a legal monopoly over you. So does your water company, and your sewer company. You cannot vote with your wallet. That's why they are regulated.
With cell phones and Internet, you CAN vote with your wallet, because there is free competition.
You agreed to the ETF when you signed your contract. It was not foisted upon you against your will. Neither was your choice of carrier made mandatory to you.
That's the difference.
Comment "Surcharge" is the new "Fee Hike" (Score 1) 338
It all started when gas prices shot up and the "fuel surcharge" hit UPS and Fedex customers in the wallet. Now this.
AT&T Quietly Adds Charges To All Contract Cell Plans 338
guttentag writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T Mobility, the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., has added a new monthly administrative fee of 61 cents to the bills of all of its contract wireless lines as of May 1, a move that could bring in more than a half-billion dollars in annual revenue to the telecom giant. An AT&T spokeswoman said the fee covers 'certain expenses, such as interconnection and cell-site rents and maintenance.' The increased cost to consumers comes even though AT&T's growth in wireless revenue last year outpaced the costs to operate and support its wireless business. The company has talked of continuing to improve wireless profitability. Citigroup analyst Michael Rollins noted that the new administrative fee is a key component for accelerating revenue growth for the rest of the year. He said the fee should add 0.30 of a percentage point to AT&T's 2013 revenue growth; he predicts total top-line growth of about 1.5%. Normally, consumers could vote with their wallets by taking their business elsewhere. AT&T would be required to let customers out of their contracts without an early termination fee if it raised prices, but it is avoiding this by simply calling the increase a 'surcharge,' effectively forcing millions of people to either pay more money per month or pay the ETF."
Comment Re:Test? (Score 1) 93
There is also no glory in PRETENDING to wipe out millions of innocent civilians with nuclear weapons.
Comment Re:amendments ..... (Score 1) 551
What does this little rant have to do with the fact that Australia's violent crime rate has skyrocketed since your government made it illegal to defend yourselves against those who would want to harm you?
Comment Tuesday? (Score 1) 235
The way it's been this year, you'd think GOES-13 failed a long time ago.
Curiosity Rewarded: Florida Teen Heading to Space Camp, Not Jail 241
Kiera Wilmot, the Florida high school student who was expelled from her school after an unauthorized science experiment was misperceived as a weapon (at least for purposes of arrest and charging), won't be going to jail. She will, though, be going to Space Camp, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign started by author and former NASA engineer Homer Hickham. All charges against her have been dropped.
Comment Translate Server Error (Score 1) 51
In soviet Russia, translator errors YOU!
Or something...
French Police End Missing Persons Searches, Suggest Using Facebook 95
itwbennett writes "According to an announcement on a French government website, police have stopped current searches for missing adults and will not accept new search requests. 'Such 'searches in the interests of the family' were conducted under an administrative procedure almost a century old, introduced to help families separated during the upheavals of World War I to find missing relatives,' according to the French Ministry of the Interior. In a letter to police chiefs announcing the changes, the Ministry advised them to instead 'direct people towards social networks on the Internet, which offer interesting possibilities.'"
Kim Dotcom Wants Money From Google, Twitter For 2-Factor Authentication 122
Nyder writes "Kim Dotcom posted via Twitter, with a link to Torrentfreak, that he owns a security patent US6078908, titled 'Method for authorizing in data transmission systems.'" Techdirt points out that Dotcom isn't just asking for financial help: Instead, he's asking companies which use two-factor authentication "to help fund his defense, in exchange for not getting sued for the patent. He points out that his actual funds are still frozen by the DOJ and (more importantly) that his case actually matters a great deal to Google, Facebook and Twitter, because the eventual ruling will likely set a precedent that may impact them -- especially around the DMCA."
Update: 05/23 14:23 GMT by T : Why is this relevant to Twitter? If you're not an active Twitter user, you might not realize that (after some well publicized twitter-account hijackings), the company is trying to regain some ground on security. Nerval's Lobster writes
"Twitter is now offering two-factor authentication, a feature that could help prevent embarrassing security breaches. Twitter users interested in activating two-factor authentication will need to head over to their account settings page and click the checkbox beside 'Require a verification code when I sign in.'"
