I have been dying to cancel my account with Verizon, but haven't because I'm thisclose to my contract running out. Even more reason to switch over to T-Mobile!

I have been dying to cancel my account with Verizon, but haven't because I'm thisclose to my contract running out. Even more reason to switch over to T-Mobile!

I assume they aren't censoring any other political organization. What bullshit. I don't have Verizon and I'm glad.

I let my verizon account run out a couple months ago because their billing on a friends and family program consisted of their having the right to hassle me about the bill (because I was one of the members), but not disclose any information about it (because I wasn't the primary account holder).

This combination of policies gives them the "right" to hassle you about bills you don't have the "right" to see any details of--including the payment history. Good one. There were multiple calls between me and my mom that went, "But I just PAID that!" "So What the hell are they calling ME for!" Since we took turns paying, we switched roles each month. It was a clusterfuck from beginning to end.

AFAICT, they use their "F & F" deal to play "divide and conquer" with families. At first I thought this combination of policies was utterly incompetent -- but the brilliance of it is in the potential to double- and triple-bill accounts.

Which is why they want to suppress the right to an abortion: more kids, more F&F accounts. More poor kids that have kids they can't afford, the more people stay on their parent's F&F "deals" and the greater the opportunity for double- and triple-billing the poor.

The usual corporatist fit-up. They can spin in the wind and kiss my royal irish arse.

BOYCOTT VERIZON

I let my verizon account run out a couple months ago because their billing on a friends and family program consisted of their having the right to hassle me about the bill (because I was one of the members), but not disclose any information about it (because I wasn't the primary account holder).

This combination of policies gives them the "right" to hassle you about bills you don't have the "right" to see any details of--including the payment history. Good one. There were multiple calls between me and my mom that went, "But I just PAID that!" "So What the hell are they calling ME for!" Since we took turns paying, we switched roles each month. It was a clusterfuck from beginning to end.

AFAICT, they use their "F & F" deal to play "divide and conquer" with families. At first I thought this combination of policies was utterly incompetent -- but the brilliance of it is in the potential to double- and triple-bill accounts.

Which is why they want to suppress the right to an abortion: more kids, more F&F accounts. More poor kids that have kids they can't afford, the more people stay on their parent's F&F "deals" and the greater the opportunity for double- and triple-billing the poor.

The usual corporatist fit-up. They can spin in the wind and kiss my royal irish arse.

BOYCOTT VERIZON

i had no idea verizon was so ridiculous, i just renewed my contract. can someone get us the number to call and complain? perhaps with an inundation of threats, they will reverse their decision?

meanwhile, i suggest naral look into pinger! pinger is a service where you sent voicemails via text. sounds funny, but it's sooo underused! it would be perfect in this situation :)

i had no idea verizon was so ridiculous, i just renewed my contract. can someone get us the number to call and complain? perhaps with an inundation of threats, they will reverse their decision?

meanwhile, i suggest naral look into pinger! pinger is a service where you sent voicemails via text. sounds funny, but it's sooo underused! it would be perfect in this situation :)

My contract expires in November, so I won't need to fork over that $170 cancellation fee when I tell them to get bent. Shame on you, James Earl Jones.

How's T-Mobile?

T-Mobile has GREAT customer service, but their coverage is not the greatest, depending on where you live. If you're in an urban area it should be no problem. I'd check the map on their website.

Verizon is quite literally the only company that provides usable coverage where I live. I could use Sprint or T-Mobile or something else if I lived a few miles away, but as it is, I'm stuck with Verizon.

Verizon is also fond of crippling their phones so that you have to pay extra for what should be basic things. It's charming.

I can complain, at least. Assuming they don't make it too hard to find their numbers.

FYI, over at consumerist.com, they have a ton of different tips & tricks for canceling cell phone contracts & avoiding the penalty fee, specific to different providers, etc. Might be worth checking out for anyone locked into a long Verizon contract right now....

you know what's really strange?

i've gotten political/campaign-related text messages from Planned Parenthood before. on my verizon cell phone.

one would think that PP, which is an organization that actually PROVIDES abortions, would seem more "unsavory" to verizon.

since i can't get rid of my verizon coverage (i'm still on my parents' family plan, and still a very, very poor college grad who can't afford my own plan yet), though, this made me feel better:

Mr. Nelson suggested that Verizon may be rethinking its position. “As text messaging and multimedia services become more and more mainstream,� he said, “we are continuing to review our content standards.� The review will be made, he said, “with an eye toward making more information available across ideological and political views.�

So, go complain. NARAL's email campaign is here.
(I couldn't find a relevant phone number on the verizon website, sorry...)

Damn you Verizon! I just got a new phone and renewed my plan and everything from them!

It's too bad I don't know many many pro-choice activists here in Colorado Springs.

I guess women's rights and health are controversial issues that's up for debate, according to Verizon. Just fucking great.

Is this an attempt to silence a women's rights organization, or is it just Verizon being afraid of losing some of their customers, who don't think women should have rights?

Verizon has already corrected this bonehead move. This is the press release I received by email after contacting them:

***

On Wednesday, September 26, Verizon Wireless received a letter from NARAL regarding the company's policy on
text messaging. The following statement may be attributed to Jeffrey
Nelson, spokesperson for Verizon Wireless.

"The decision to not allow text messaging on an important, though sensitive, public policy issue was incorrect, and we have fixed the process that led to this isolated incident.

"Upon learning about this situation, senior Verizon Wireless executives
immediately reviewed the decision and determined it was an incorrect interpretation of a dusty internal policy. That policy, developed
before text messaging protections such as spam filters adequately
protected customers from unwanted messages, was designed to ward against
communications such as anonymous hate messaging and adult materials sent
to children.

"Verizon Wireless is proud to provide services such as text messaging, which are being harnessed by organizations and individuals communicating their diverse opinions about issues and topics. We have great respect for this free flow of ideas and will continue to protect
the ability to communicate broadly through our messaging service."

***

So the issue appears to be resolved.

FYI: Working Assets won't only never pull this crap, but they'll donate your money to progessive causes. They'll also buy you out of your existing contract. Try http://www.workingassetswireless.com/plannedparenthoodwireless/index.cfm?event=startOver or http://www.workingassetswireless.com/democracywireless/index.cfm?event=startOver

FYI: Working Assets won't only never pull this crap, but they'll donate your money to progessive causes. They'll also buy you out of your existing contract. Try http://www.workingassetswireless.com/plannedparenthoodwireless/index.cfm?event=startOver or http://www.workingassetswireless.com/democracywireless/index.cfm?event=startOver

happily, verizon actually reversed their position on this this morning.

Saying they reverse the position is only meaningful when they actually do something and approve the short code.

The latest from Verizon (according to the Associated Press)
"The decision to not allow text messaging on an important, though sensitive, public policy issue was incorrect, and we have fixed the process that led to this isolated incident," Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said in a statement.

"Upon learning about this situation, senior Verizon Wireless executives immediately reviewed the decision and determined it was an incorrect interpretation of a dusty internal policy," Nelson said. "That policy, developed before text messaging protections such as spam filters adequately protected customers from unwanted messages, was designed to ward against communications such as anonymous hate messaging and adult materials sent to children."

Yeah yeah yeah, they've "reversed" their position!

As if Verizon's entire corporatist culture has suddenly done an about-face.

I doubt it.

The problem with accepting this "reversal" at face value is that they've already revealed, with their actions, their real motives behind the privatization of communication: to suppress free speech.

I suggest we all TXT them, email them, FAX them and leave messages on their voice mail -- or heck, stand outside their offices with a bullhorn -- the verbatim text of the first amendment. Here it is (y'all cut and paste):

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The suppression of free speech through privatization of communication is just an end-run around the first amendment.

A corporation is a legal fiction which is constructed by the state .

Therefore, for the state to construct a legal entity which they then allow to go around abridging the freedom of speech is the the same thing as the state making a law which is abridging the freedom of speech .

Consequently, while a real person may prohibit certain speech while you occupy their private property IANAL but I believe it could be argued that corporations, because they are a legal fiction may not .

perhaps, wagadog, if corporations were actually seen as "legal fictions" by anyone other than us anti-corporate-personhood progressives, your argument would hold sway.

sadly, though, it does not. nor will it in the foreseeable future.

and so it's actually perfectly legal, though unethical and stupid, for these companies to censor the speech of their customers and would-be customers.
telling verizon that they're acting illegally when, by all legal standards, they're not isn't a very effective strategy.

"...and so it's actually perfectly legal..."

OOh, Judge Jen has spoken!

However, I would urge you, Judge Jen, to review the definition of the term "legal fiction." A legal fiction is a supposition that is taken to be true by the court, but is not actually true. Nobody believes corporations to be actual people; therefore, by your own argument and the formal definition of the term legal fiction -- pretty much everybody agrees that a corporation is a legal fiction.

I said " it could be argued that corporations, because they are a legal fiction may not [abridge freedom of speech]."

So, Item One: now we have a better understanding of what the term "legal fiction" means.

Item Two: you claimed that I was "telling Verizon" that their actions were illegal.

This is false.

I merely implied that it could be argued that privatization may not afford corporations as much impunity as they think they have -- whether it's to abridge free speech, or to shoot Iraqi civilians indiscriminately in the streets of Baghdad.

In a previous post, however, I was "telling Verizon" something -- that they could spin in the wind and KMRIA. And they pretty much did!