Is It Legal to Hack Your Wireless Network?

Once upon a time there was no choice

when it came to your phone

service. Not only did you have to get your service through Bell

Systems, you had to rent the equipment from them too. Yes, you had to

actually rent the phone that was plugged into the RJ-45 on your wall.

A 1968 case where Carter Electronics took on Bell Systems resolved

that

problem when a judge ruled that third party equipment can be plugged in

and used on the network that Bell Systems maintained and provided

service on. A whole new communications industry was born and consumers

were free to choose which equipment they wanted to use for

communications.

The Bell System companies dragged their feet for

many years after the Carterphone decision, still requiring customers to

rent their equipment up until consumers fought them well into the late

70's. Even through that battle, we are still retreating back to the era

where our communications options are becoming increasingly controlled

in other arenas. Consumers are forced into contracts they don't want to

be locked into, and to use phones only supplied by our wireless

providers, Shouldn't the 1968 Carterfone decision make a difference in

the wireless industry? Because of this case, shouldn't I as a consumer

have the ability to use whatever equipment I want on a wireless

network? How about a cable network? The Internet?

In the

Carterfone case, the FCC cited their decision which

stated that a subscriber's right to use the network in ways which are

"privately beneficial without being publicly detrimental" applied to

ALL TYPES OF EQUIPMENT. What does this mean? It means that everybody

who subscribes to a service is able to use their own equipment in a way

that benefits the subscriber as long as no other subscribers are

affected. Without the Hush-A-Phone or Carterfone decisions, companies

like AOL may have tried to rent us "the only computer that will work on

the Internet." Electric companies could make a case for dictating which

light bulbs you use. Gas companies might force you to buy their

brand of furnaces.

Still today, most cable companies require their subscribers to rent a

cable box you

could buy your own. SIM card technology provides the ability to switch

wireless phones whenever a person wants to, yet providers such as

Verizon and Alltell fail to embrace this technology, forcing consumers

to sign a new contract or spend exorbitant amounts of money to simply

switch

As consumers we need to start demanding better of our service

providers. AT&T and Sprint allow us to use SIM cards with most

of their phones. We can go online and purchase a phone off Ebay, pop in

the SIM card from an old phone and you're ready to go! There is

alternative equipment that can be used on cable networks, but nobody

really challenges cable companies when it comes to actually using it.

We all just keep our mouths shut, dig in our pockets and fork over the

extra $5 a month to rent the box. We have come along way since 1969.

There are multiple phone carriers, wireless companies, and cable

companies to choose from. But we can do better than being roped into

paying a subscription fee on items we can buy ourselves or signing 2

year contracts just to get the latest smartphone. Remember it's supply

and demand. Ultimately it should come down to the consumers wants and

needs. Not what the provider is willing to give us.

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