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The Battle for Iraq's Cell Phones
Mother Jones has a new report, Crossing the Lines, on the backroom wheeling and dealing over "one natural resource Saddam Hussein never managed to exploit -- the nation's cellular phone frequencies... Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), whose district includes many Qualcomm employees, had tried to wrap his favored company in the flag. He denounced the cellular system used by Iraq's neighbors as 'an outdated French standard,' and proposed a law that would effectively mandate Qualcomm on Iraq." Qualcomm's patented standard was turned down, but according to the documents and emails Mother Jones says it has obtained, the battle didn't end there.
So here's another company exploiting the deaths of innocents to make more money.
When is stuff like this going to make it into the mainstream news?
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
lol, talk about flamebait. what if it was a spanish, or english design, would that be alright? outrageous. somehow i think this was taken out of context (by a left-leaing paper). he can't be that much of a f**$%^* idiot can he? or can he? excuse me for not reading the loong article.
This is my Sig, this is my Gun. One is for Slashdot and one is for Fun.
How exactly does this story fit in here? Not to troll, but this hardly seems like it matters to anybody other than Jamie.
And BTW, it's funny to yet another Mother Jones story on slashdot, a magazine that's "flamebait" like a mofo.
The icon next to the article is "communications". Turn that off, then disable stories by jamie and you will be ok ;-)
This was first suggested by Senator Orrin Hatch - R who has Qualcomm as a major financier.
This is left as an exercise for the reader.
Darrell Issa engineered the California governor recall that gave us Governor Schwarzenegger. Of course he's working on bringing Skynet to Baghdad.
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make install -not war
GSM is so wide spread throughout the world, that I'm glad the administration didn't let some greedy company muscle their own technology into Iraq, orphaning them from the rest of the networks in the region. To me the idea of having generic GSM phones connected to the network with a chip is brilliant. I can move networks and change phones with ease. I can take my trusty triband phone from here in the US and roam with ease. Better yet buy a local sim chip. GSM is open and implementable by anyone.
I'm glad there were a few people making decisions who were smart enough and honest enough to recognize this companies attempt to bully its way into a lucrative contract.
As for what takes over from GSM, we'll see. Just as in computers, patent-encumbered "standards" will do a world of harm. In this thing I think CDMA is very harmful.
As a Qualcomm shareholder (500 shares) I strongly suggest going with Qualcomm rather than the inferior GSM standard.
Also, GSM phones are the ones that cause cancer.
Choose wisely..
"I will yeild the floor to the Senator from Qualcomm."
Umm, no. He's lining his pockets by betraying the interests of his constituents and indeed of the human species in order to promote his patron. Said constituents were fools to vote for him, fooled by money from Qualcomm.
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
The best solution would be not to mandate any standard. Let's leave it to Adam Smith's invisible hand.
It should be noted that Issa is the guy who spent $4 million (IIRC) of his own cash to recall Grey Davis and then cried when the Governator got everyone's support. The guy is just a little partisan, I'd say.
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
For those interested, Harper's has a really interesting article on the mechanics of the corruption in the reconstruction contracts. Baghdad Year Zero - Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia
This may be more palatable if you feel Mother Jones goes off the deep end sometimes.
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
This may be more palatable if you feel Mother Jones goes off the deep end sometimes.
Pardon my offtopicness, but I'd like more info on Mother Jones. I'm considering subscribing -- I like the idea of supporting "Mother Jones' hellraising journalism." I'm a Green Party member and proud-to-say-it liberal, so it sounds like something I'd enjoy. On the other hand, I think anything can be taken too far, and I'd no sooner give money to tinfoil-hat folks on the left than I would those on the right. I want hard questions asked, but I've had all the Michael Moore I can take, you know?
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
so none of his constituents work for qualcomm is suppose right?
if a major employer wants you to do something, you do it. because voters appreciate the jobs.
I don't know guys is it off the topic or not but I felt I have to add something here. evey time i contact my family in iraq they tell me that the cell phones are the most effective weapon insurgents are using specially on high ways and the road from jordan to baghdad (spoting the westerners on the boarder) making a caal to other insurgents to wait (mostly between Falluja-Ramadi) to take action and also ignite the road side bombs. Sorry if this is off topic
Said constituents were fools to vote for him, fooled by money from Qualcomm.
Or too lazy to care.
This