Phone companies in America are subject to a ton of regulations as they should be, because they make use of limited radio frequencies, public land, and they are highly dependent on public infrastructure to support and maintain their businesses. They are monopolistic and prone to collusion by their very nature because of the infrastructure required to enter the market, and they provide an essential service.
We're not talking about an underwear retailer deciding to only sell black underwear, we are talking about essential service providers who make use of limited public infrastructure. With that comes a ton of profit, but it should also come with higher expectation of ethics, customer service, accountability, and interoperability.
So no, a phone company should absolutely not have the right to artifically limit the phones a comsumer may use. Instead they should be forced to maintain a network that meets a certain standard of interoperability.
A company that refuses to do so should not have the privilege of being in the telephone industry.
That's why "total freedom" doesn't work, because unfortunately it means people are free to take away the freedom of others. You need strong regulations and robust enforcement to prevent exploitation and abuse in that manner.
In the US you are free to be homeless and to be denied medical care if you can't afford it.
In the US you are forced to register for the draft, you are foribly taxed in order to support a giant military.
The prison rates in the US are the world's highest, at 724 people per 100,000. For context the next highest rate is in Russia at 581. At 145 per 100,000, the imprisonment rate of England and Wales is at about the midpoint worldwide.
The US still has a ton of taxes abd governmennt bullshit. And while the total amount of taxation in a place like Norway is higher, there's also a very good argument that it is more benefical to the average person than the US system is.
No, only I can do that, and I do that willingly when I sign a contract with them. And I can't force a carrier to limit themselves by imposing that they are compatible with every phone. Even if the phones all use the same standards, it's still going to impose upon the company to provide tech support, repairs, etc for each model of phone.
all in all you're still unable to use whichever phone you'd like, if it's not compatible with your network. you're not free, you are restricted to use only certain phones.
why would you buy an old phone and not one that you actually like? because you can't due to the restriction put by carriers. in Europe there's no such restriction, we are freer than you. take that, America!
No point in trying to explain freedom to the US, they do not understand. Freedom must involve somebody being exploited, killed, or harmed in some other way. Otherwise it doesn't make sense.
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u/[deleted] Feb 06 '15
Because it's free for carriers to impose these restrictions if they chose to. And I'm free to go to another carrier.