Assessing the ITU Dubai Conference • December 2012

In mid-December, delegates from 193 nations gathered in Dubai to develop what was hoped would be a new international framework for regulation of telecommunications throughout the world.  Given that the last time the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) had been together formally to address major international telecommunications policy was 1988, much had changed--most notably the rise of the Internet not only as an “information superhighway,” but also as a dominant force in the delivery of telecommunications offerings--including voice communications.

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The Telecom/IT Impact of Dodd-Frank

At the most recent conference of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants (stcconsultants.org), I was asked about the duties that the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Pub.L. 111-203, H.R. 4173) has placed on record retention and maintenance for those entities (financial institutions and organizations) that work in the swap space. Given that the rules in the Act became effective on June 4, 2012, compliance is now law.

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Combating Wireless Bill Shock

I don’t imagine that anything will ever beat the story of the call from the panicked consumer who called me several years ago after receiving a (…wait for it…) $45,000 wireless phone bill after a 5 day trip overseas.  The problem was that the device owner’s son had spent the 5 days watching videos on the wireless device.  Getting a signal wasn’t the problem. Paying for using it—and understanding the costs associated with Junior’s video streaming from overseas for 5 solid days—was!  Talk about being in the proverbial “dog house” for an extended stay….  Ultimately, the consumer still paid a whopping $9,000 bill (her abusive call to the provider’s call center did NOT help her cause—particularly since the provider’s billing was precisely in line with its published rates and contract terms).  The experience of  the client, which unfortunately is not unusual (although certainly at a much larger scale than normal), is what’s known as “bill shock.”

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Legal Searches and Wireless Devices: Rules Are As Clear as Mud

Legislators and judges struggle every day to keep laws relevant and applicable.  In fact, while technology changes at warp speed, laws and regulations enacted to protect rights are modified—if it all—at a glacial pace.  Such laws, drafted to protect one set of interests, often create unimaginable constitutional quandaries and challenges as technology and society evolve.  Such issues are often unforeseeable at the time the laws were drafted, but become hornets’ nests when circumstances force collisions either with existing laws or the U.S. Constitution itself.  Privacy, in an electronic world, is one of the most challenging of these issues, because concerns falling under this big umbrella often pit individual rights against public safety interests.

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Urban Legend Meets Reality

It’s a classic urban legend that has some truth to its roots.  Periodically, I receive an email that reads something like this:

It was about 1:00 p.m., and Lauren was driving to visit a friend. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. Lauren's parents had always told her to never pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather to wait until she got to a gas station, etc.  Lauren promptly called 112 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull over right away.

And the tale goes on.  Lauren’s life was saved and the bad guys who tried to pull her over were captured, and they all lived happily ever after.

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