Free the iPhone! Readers back federal ban on iPhone/AT&T-like deals

Readers of this blog are overwhelming in favor of banning the exclusive deals between handset makers and carriers that restrict smartphones and other devices to a single network. I posted last week about pressure groups working to influence a sympathetic Obama administration to ban such deals, on the grounds they are anti-consumer and anti-competitive. So far, 87 readers took the poll associated with the blog post. Altogether nearly 80% of them said, in effect, “yes, ban’em all!” Forty-seven percent wanted to treat their mobile device just like a PC, and be able to connect to anyone’s network. Another 32% were basicalll “pro-choice: “I want to choose, like, whatever.” A paltry 21% held out for some form of sanity. Of those, 13% were in favor of letting AT&T and Apple (and, of course, other companies) mind their own business. A mere 3% agreed that such a ban will have bad effects up and down the line (which happens to be my own position, being a firm believer in the Law of Unintended Consequences). You can still join in by casting your ballot at the above link and opine in comments….