Verizon Sues Nextel For Espionage

jonknee writes "Verizon is going after Nextel for a little corporate espionage. Verizon says that Nextel got its hands on some internal prototypes of models aimed to compete with Nextel's Direct Connect technology. Verizon's service is slotted to start up anytime, and a few other carriers are expected to launch similar services."

Comments

But how

[jeffkjo1]

The article has no details on one point, how did Nextel "improperly obtain" the prototypes. Something tells me that they didn't just walk into Verizon's corporate headquarters and ask, and I doubt they pulled off a Mission Impossible stunt.... so likely, someone inside of Verizon had a small grudge and had already tried calling the BSA.

In which case.... Verizon could probably argue that.... ummm, the phones fell off the back of a truck.

Now this would make sense..

[LloydSeve]

What I don't understand is.. that Verizon,
Sprint PCS and AT&T Wireless are ALL coming out
with versions of Direct Connect for their phones..
all modeled after Nextel's with a few
hundred mile range..

And Nextel is releasing their new Nationwide
version which will allow people to direct connect
with anyone across the entire United States..
so what reason does Nextel have to worry and
spy on Verizon? And why VERIZON of all people?
AT&T is the one with the GLOBAL impact,
not Verizon.

I think this is just a way to impose negative
thoughts onto Nextel so that Verizon will have a
chance of selling their phones with DirectConnect
technology.

But maybe I am wrong, and Nextel got dumb.

Re:Now this would make sense..

[aaarrrgggh]

Talking to Verizon folks, they seem to think that in 5-10 years, it will just be them and AT&T left. They are fairly aggressive at expanding markets... especially since they have a lot of cash around.

Re:Now this would make sense..

[DigitalJEM]

I think it's exactly what you said... [i]I think this is just a way to impose negative thoughts onto Nextel so that Verizon will have a chance of selling their phones with DirectConnect technology.[/i] Verizon wants to make Nextel look bad. And they're going to do whatever it takes to do it. They're a bunch of babbies in my eyes.

Can you hear me now?

[blcamp]

What is Verizon whining about this time... other than the fact that Nextel's Direct Connect has been out for... how long? ELEVEN YEARS?

They are suing Nextel because *they* (Verizon) are a tad bit slow in coming to market?

I don't want to hear them now... or anytime.

Direct Connect

[harmonica]

Isn't that already a trademark of NeoModus?

Or are file-sharing and telecommunication different enough to justify the same name?

Re:who needs direct connect?

[phillymjs]

i think direct connect is pointless and stupid.

Are you crazy? I work for a consulting firm, and the Nextel phones changed our business when we got them because we were able to communicate much more easily with each other when in the field than we were with ordinary cellphones.

Having what is basically an unlimited-range walkie talkie is great.

~Philly

Re:Who did it?

[bwalling]

How did they get them? Was it an upset employee, did they put some one in the work force to steal the prototypes?

So could Nextel be sued for receiving stolen property?


I believe this product is near its release date, which means that it is probably out in the hands of reps and has been shown to customers. That means that there are a number of the prototypes in a reasonably large number of hands. I'm sure that these phones are demonstrated to customers under NDA. I find it simple to believe that over the course of a number of demonstrations, a few phones can go missing.

Now, if Nextel is aware that this is not a released product, and aware that these are not under any sort of public testing, then they can be found guilty of knowingly possessing stolen property.

Re:Compare the outcome with RIAA "piracy" cases

[Surak]

The corporate guys can afford to hire the David Boies and Johnny Cockranes of the attorney world.

You and I can afford to hire the Barney Fifes and Gomer Pyles of the attorney world.

That's the difference, m'friend, that's the difference.

Re:I HATE direct connect

[thedavid]

FWIW...

I've had a nextel for a long while now, and I can tell you 2 things about what you're seeing:
1) This is not the only way that direct connect works - you can turn off the speaker and just use direct connect as if you were using a regular phone
2) The people who do keep the speaker on all the time ( in resturants, movies, etc ) are doing it for 1 reason - status. They think they're ultra-hip and cool cause they have it on.

Me, I keep my i90 on vibrate. If someone DC's me and I'm in public, it just vibrates to let me know someone is trying to dc me. Then, flip it open and talk - odds are you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and a regular call unless you looked closely.

I N T E R O P E R A B I L I T Y

[The Cisco Kid]

If you have a cellphone (from any vendor, with any service provider) you can call any other wired or wireless phone, by dialing its number.

What would be really nice (and which we certainly arent going to see anytime soon) is if the 'direct connect' feature worked that way too - if you werent restricted to talking only to other people with the same type of phone/service.