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Verizon Silences Amateur Roaming Number List
An anonymous reader writes: "Verizon Wireless has silenced a tech-savvy user's web site for publishing the PRL content of Verizon phones. The PRL revealed that Verizon's popular and "expanding" America's Choice Plan has actually been shrinking in coverage in the latest few phone updates. Verizon of course, doesn't want this to tarnish their image, so they threaten legal action. Here is the usenet announcement. Can they hear us now?" PRL stands for Preferred Roaming List, and since roaming agreements can greatly influence the worth (and cost) of a particular calling plan, it's information I'd rather have available.
A trade secret is only secret if nobody knows about it. If Verizon failed to protect that secret it's their fault, and they can't do anything about it once it's revealed.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
The only thing that really bugs me about this is that intellectual property rights are being asserted over a collection of information from multiple sources, all public. This would indicate, if it stands and sets a precedent, that public information is only public in its original format. If I make every third cell of a table of radio frequency assignments bold to highlight an interesting trend, am I now guilty of infringing the intellectual property "rights" of the users of the associated spectra?
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
good point. see http://ie.suberic.net/justalurker.com/. verizon's lawyers can feel free to look me up - just look in your handy copy of the eircom phone book for the 07 and 09 area codes.
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