Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Verizon Sues Nextel For Espionage

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the no-fair-peaking dept.

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."

4 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Now this would make sense.. by LloydSeve · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  2. Can you hear me now? by blcamp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    --
    The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
  3. Re:who needs direct connect? by phillymjs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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

  4. Re:Who did it? by bwalling · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.