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Amazon Fights for First Amendment

The scary part about so much information about people being in a single place is that the government knows where to look. This is a good thing when they are investigating a suspect but when they start to investigate the reading habits of people who are not under any suspicion, it becomes troublesome.

In short, Amazon was asked by the government to hand over which products were purchased by a large group of people in the hopes that one or more of these customers would testify against the seller (in this case Amazon did not sell the products directly -- they were purchased through Amazon Marketplace).

Amazon refused. The government narrowed the list to 230 -- Amazon refused again.

The court records regarding this case were recently unsealed. More information can be found here.

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T-Mobile Suing Starbucks

T-Mobile is already not thrilled AT&T will replace them as the service provider of choice in Starbucks stores, now the GSM-based service provider who was early to embrace WiFi is losing revenue due to the new AT&T/Starbucks promotion of free WiFi in its stores.

While the news came out around February 11th that AT&T and Starbucks would provide free WiFi service, according to these court documents T-Mobile learned of this arrangement on or around March 30th.

Here are the salient points from this lawsuit:

• In early 2008, Starbucks, AT&T and T-Mobile negotiated some agreements allowing a structured and seamless transition allowing AT&T to replace T-Mobile as the WiFi provider in Starbucks stores.
• During the transition period, T-Mobile and AT&T would each promote the other brand via web pages which are displayed when a user logs onto the wireless network.
• In addition, this page would allow customers to be authenticated by an existing subscription with either service provider.
• AT&T and T-Mobile would not pay each other for using one another's networks.
• Starbucks rolled out a promotional plan allowing its customers using a Starbucks card to register the card at starbucks.com and at this point the customers are directed to an AT&T page.
• Since every US market is covered by T-Mobile except for Bakersfield, CA and San Antonio, TX, T-Mobile loses the opportunity to be marketed in front of these customers in other markets.
• In addition, these cards are available to everyone, not just AT&T customers.
• The agreement stipulates only AT&T customers are to have this right.

There is more but you get the idea... The point is if you have a T-Mobile account today, why not cancel it and use these cards instead to ensure you have access to the internet for free.

Based on the documents it is apparently T-Mobile thinks that Starbucks and the relationship they have with the behemoth of a coffee house is important to their success. Om Malik finds it funny that a coffehouse is a key pawn between two telecoms. He has a point. Then again, the branding associated with this agreement must really help T-Mobile.

Rob Adler points out it is interesting that T-Mobile did not sue AT&T but then again, AT&T is a more formidable legal opponent and suing AT&T may still be an option.

If there is a takeaway it is that the importance of broadband access -- especially wireless broadband is coming into focus. Although the outcome of this case is probably irrelevant to people who frequent the coffeehouses, what is certain is that service providers are taking their ability to provide wireless access to customers very seriously.

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Will Steve Jobs Wow Us?

It seems that if you do not blog about the iPhone this weekend you will be out touch with the blogging and news gathering communities. It is just that important. On Monday we will have a new Apple mobile device to drool over and I wonder if the company has any surprises up its sleeve such as higher screen resolution?

We know the new iPhone also called Jesus Phone by some will have 3G but will it also have a keyboard? Would Apple roll out multiple products at once? How about an iPhone with a keyboard? Wouldn't that be great for those people who want the benefits of a great web surfing device coupled with the ability to write lengthy emails?

I could go on about the new consumer electronics wondor but instead I thought it useful to share some interesting iPhone articles and blogs for your perusal.

Here is an unofficial concept design of the new device and here is a story about the iPhone in Japan and how Apple is negotiating hard with SoftBack and NTT DoCoMo. Would Apple truly pick Japan's #3 carrier as its exclusive partner in the land of sushi and sake?

CNNMoney calls tomorrow's event -- referring to the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) as the launch of Apple 2.0. This entry discusses the 3G iPhone of course but also goes into the SDK, speculation regarding GPS chip inclusion and even a discussion of why the $99 .Mac suite should be free and possibly renamed.

There is more  -- a discussion of a smaller iPhone and even a larger tablet sized computer. In my opinion, both are inevitable and a real surprise would be a device which works on Verizon's network.

With all eyes on Steve Jobs this week, the world is his for the taking. Will he wow us with something(s) really revolutionary or just announce that the iPhone will work with 3G networks? I sincerely hope it is the former.

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