Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Simon Higgs Reports From Telephone Hell

Posted on October 8, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Simon Higgs is having a surreal experience trying to move his cell phone service from Verizon to Comcast. All he wants to do is (1) keep his same telephone number (this is the much-vaunted “number portability” that we are supposed to be able to enjoy; and (2) have working reliable phone service. It's not that easy.

Here are his reports from the front:

Day 4

So far the process has been a nightmare, but the impossible has recently happened which is still really annoying but is also a little amusing. Everyone says what has happened can't be done, but since I used to work for a Telco and know what I am seeing in front of me, I don't believe them for a minute.

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Posted in Sufficiently Advanced Technology | Comments Off on Simon Higgs Reports From Telephone Hell

French Website ‘Interview’

Posted on October 8, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Transfert.net, a neat-looking French techie website, has published my reply to some questions they e-mailed me. It's a fair translation, and I stand by what I said, although I have to admit that when they said they had questions they wanted to ask me, I thought it was for background for a story, and never imagined they would publish them verbatim. Had I known, I would certainly have given a longer answer to the last question….

Posted in Internet | Comments Off on French Website ‘Interview’

Big Win for FTC on Do-Not-Call

Posted on October 8, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

The 10th Circuit decision in FTC v. Mainstream Marketing Serv is a huge win for the FTC. The court not only vacated the injunction blocking implementation of the do-not-call list, but said that it thinks the FTC is very likely to win on the merits.

The key to the panel's decision is that it finds in the agency's deliberative records, and in the original statute's legislative history, reasons why one could believe that commercial calls are (a) more annoying to consumers than non-commercial calls and (b) why the risk of fraud and other harms is greater from commercial calls than from non-commercial calls:

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Posted in Law: Constitutional Law | Comments Off on Big Win for FTC on Do-Not-Call

Do-Not-Call Lives Again

Posted on October 7, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

The 10th Circuit has just issued an order reviving the do-not-call list. I have to go teach a class, but I'll try to write up something about it late tonight.

Posted in Administrative Law, Law: Constitutional Law | Comments Off on Do-Not-Call Lives Again

Structural Failings in the California Election: The Case for STV Now More Than Ever

Posted on October 7, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

California is voting today. As a supporter of democratic institutions to the maximum extent compatible with broadly republican government – in other words, as someone who is predisposed to like the institutions of ballot initiatives and petitions, and who thinks that recalls do have a place in a well-run representative democracy, I take away two and a half lessons from the California fiasco: The two main lessons are that the bar for a recall needs to be somewhat higher, but not too high, and that if ever there was on object lesson on the virtues of single transferable vote, this is it. (The half lesson is that I need to rethink the virtues and vices of postal voting.)

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Posted in Law: Constitutional Law, Politics: US | 7 Comments

Pranks

Posted on October 7, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Zug is a bit hit and miss, but when it hits, it really hits. Commuters everywhere will love the new Turnpike Prank. But even that's not as funny as my all-time favorite: The Credit Card Prank, a hypo-filled joke that resonates especially well with law professors.

Posted in Completely Different | Comments Off on Pranks