Regulation Allowing Conversation

Being connected, for many people, is the equivalent of being alive, and the federal government has finally figured this out. It is unclear exactly when our culture began to revolve around communication of the technological type, but we can assume it began in 1876 with the invention of the telephone. And, as almost all of us are familiar with the unbearable pain of separation—that feeling of discomfort when we lack cell phone service—it seems inevitable that protection of communication technology would become an inalienable right in the eyes of the public. Now, after some noble efforts, the government is moving to protect those rights.

For instance, if you begin to notice that cell phone service deals seem to be a little sweeter, you aren’t imagining it. After a number of appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has decided that we can keep our cell numbers, even when we don’t wish to keep our current service providers. Using a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation that requires “number portability” for land lines—which allows customers to keep their phone number when switching services—the court decided that people have a right to their cell phone numbers, just as they have a right to their home phone numbers. And since cell phones are starting to replace home phones (especially for us college students), it’s only logical that number portability start applying to wireless lines, too.

Number portability began on Nov. 24. Finally, we will no longer be held hostage by poor service providers just to avoid that overwhelming fear of being disconnected from friends and family as we scramble to distribute a new number when we switch. According to The New York Times, FCC officials have estimated that 8.7 million people will probably change services now that number portability has become available—a clear indicator that people have in fact been trapped by their current providers.

But the recent proliferation of consumer communication rights hasn’t stopped with cell phone services. The most outstanding example, and perhaps the freshest in the American mind, is the national do-not-call initiative. Basically, Americans want a right to a disturbance-free dinner—bereft of pesky telemarketers pretending to care how happy we are with our local service…or if we’d be interested in this great new product…or if we’d like a low APR on a credit card. (Who knows how many strings are attached to that one?) And while some may think the do-not-call effort is trivial, 51 million people have expressed their approval by signing up. It’s another clear win for consumer rights.

We will no longer need to worry about unwanted calls. And, perhaps most importantly, we will no longer have to worry about that feeling of nakedness when we lose our teenage security blankets—a.k.a. cell phones. Communicating is an essential part of being human, and it’s about time the federal government stepped in to protect the technology that helps us get in touch with our fellow human beings.

—Nicholas A. Molina is an editorial comper.