Sprint/Nextels response to my email:

[matthylland]

Thank you for contacting Sprint Nextel regarding our advertising decisions during the New Hampshire Presidential debates.



It is Sprint Nextel’s policy to make advertising decisions based on the demographics of the television audience, not on the nature of the content being broadcast, provided the broadcast doesn’t promote racist, sexist or other offensive views. Our goal is to reach our current and prospective customers who watch Fox’s programming; our advertising is not an endorsement for or against any particular candidate or political viewpoint.



While we understand your disappointment in the selection criteria organizers have established for this event, we suggest you contact them directly to express your concerns.



Sincerely,



John Taylor

Sprint Nextel Corp.





Should i respond?

 

[sluggo]

Respond by canceling Nextel service if you have it.

I took that to mean that they could care less.

 

[silus]

Thats a good response by them, but they should understand that a blatent attack of a democratic process is at least equally offensive.

 

[tony.angelo]

"our advertising is not an endorsement for or against any particular candidate or political viewpoint."

I would respond by explaining that, while their advertising isn't endorsing a particular candidate, it is in fact endorsing this form of censorship and the corporation that has decided to exclude someone.

Cancelling your service, if you have it, would be a nice touch too.

 

[wohoo]

Exactly. Tell them that Fox's attempt to manipulate the vote without a doubt falls under "other offensive views".

 

[Pedro TT]

I work for Sprint/Nextel and I can tell you that if you think they will turn against Fox, you are highly mistaken. We get requests by law enforcement all the time to monitor, track and listen in on people's calls/and or text messages.

Your cellphones act like an electronic dog collar and the information we provide to the government (without any need for a warant thanks to the partiot act) can tell authorities where you go, when you sleep, who you talk to and how fast you drive.

They dont care about your complaint because they are apart of the problem. If you want to make a difference cancel your service.

P.S. Do you know that now we have the capability to turn on your cellphone mic remotely and listen to what you are doing?

 

[matthylland]

I work for Sprint/Nextel and I can tell you that if you think they will turn against Fox, you are highly mistaken. We get requests by law enforcement all the time to monitor, track and listen in on people's calls/and or text messages.

Your cellphones act like an electronic dog collar and the information we provide to the government (without any need for a warant thanks to the partiot act) can tell authorities where you go, when you sleep, who you talk to and how fast you drive.

They dont care about your complaint because they are apart of the problem. If you want to make a difference cancel your service.

P.S. Do you know that now we have the capability to turn on your cellphone mic remotely and listen to what you are doing?

Wow, thats crazy...

I wish i had service to cancel

I'll send them something back by tomorrow morning...im not going to rush a response now.

 

[Patriot123]

I work for Sprint/Nextel and I can tell you that if you think they will turn against Fox, you are highly mistaken. We get requests by law enforcement all the time to monitor, track and listen in on people's calls/and or text messages.

Your cellphones act like an electronic dog collar and the information we provide to the government (without any need for a warant thanks to the partiot act) can tell authorities where you go, when you sleep, who you talk to and how fast you drive.

They dont care about your complaint because they are apart of the problem. If you want to make a difference cancel your service.

P.S. Do you know that now we have the capability to turn on your cellphone mic remotely and listen to what you are doing?

...Are you bloody serious?

What about old fashioned cell phones?

 

[Pedro TT]

...Are you bloody serious?

What about old fashioned cell phones?

All of them have this capability. A cellphone is just a high-powered 2-way radio. Everything you do is relayed through a central processing station which is pretty much just a gian office building with a server farm in it. Anything that can be tracked does get tracked and is stored. All that is needed is a request by the government to release this information.

 

[Patriot123]

...That's disgusting. Is there any way to program a phone in such a way that you know when the mic is on and such? Ie, literally changing the coding. That is just disgusting... Really. Makes me just want to chuck my phone out the window right now.

 

[Pedro TT]

...That's disgusting. Is here any way to program a phone in such a way that you know when the mic is on and such? That is just disgusting... Really. Makes me just want to chuck my phone out the window right now.

The only thing you can do is take out the battery. But I've heard rumors that the next generation of phones will have internal batteries (beside their main ones) that will prevent this from being an effective method of stopping them from eavesdropping(or so I've heard).

There is no way to tell that I'm aware of to stop the mic from being turned on remotely except for removing the battery but to be honest, that would be the least of my worries. Just think about what they can track! When and where you eat, where you sleep, who you sleep with(if you have a girlfriend), who you visit...ect. Anything and everything is traceable. If you dont want them to track you then dont carry it with you unless you absolutely need to.

 

[steelhawk]

The only thing you can do is take out the battery. But I've heard rumors that the next generation of phones will have internal batteries (beside their main ones) that will prevent this from being an effective method of stopping them from eavesdropping(or so I've heard).

There is no way to tell that I'm aware of to stop the mic from being turned on remotely except for removing the battery but to be honest, that would be the least of my worries. Just think about what they can track! When and where you eat, where you sleep, who you sleep with(if you have a girlfriend), who you visit...ect. Anything and everything is traceable. If you dont want them to track you then dont carry it with you unless you absolutely need to.

Easy way to test if your paranoid, call your cell phone and see how far away your voice can be heard from the mic... (assuming it's not a speakerphone cell phone) mine has a distance of a few inches tops.

Anyway that's not too crazy, laser microphones are what scares me (wonder if those could be mounted and still work in space?)

 

[Patriot123]

I mean, obviously I'm not worried as I have nothing to worry about (I'm fourteen) but just the fact that the government is promoting this... It's just sick. And it just sort of makes me just want to know what the future is for Dr. Paul... The polls are all ready looking to be biased. Currently, the polls are showing him at dead last. Right in front of Thompson, by a hair, actually. It's disgusting. It just makes me want to do something about it. The sad thing is that I can't do anything about it. No one can. Ever. You hear all of this stuff about how if the RP Revolution fails, that there's all these predictions that it's going to turn violent. When I hear that now, I just think to myself, "Yeah right."

And if they were to even try to put a "battery" in phones, that isn't anything to worry about. There's a little something called, "tearing it out." And if it supplies any sort of connection, there's obvious ways around that

 

[JMO]

I would tell them.

It is my policy to support business that do not contribute to companies that perform unfair business practices. I am sorry to say I can no longer do business with your company since Sprint Nextel policy appears to be money over principle. I will no longer do business with your company, or will I endorse your company to friends. In the future my money will go to competitors, and my words to friends and associates will be negative of Nextel.

 

[xao]

The only thing you can do is take out the battery. But I've heard rumors that the next generation of phones will have internal batteries (beside their main ones) that will prevent this from being an effective method of stopping them from eavesdropping(or so I've heard).

There is no way to tell that I'm aware of to stop the mic from being turned on remotely except for removing the battery but to be honest, that would be the least of my worries. Just think about what they can track! When and where you eat, where you sleep, who you sleep with(if you have a girlfriend), who you visit...ect. Anything and everything is traceable. If you dont want them to track you then dont carry it with you unless you absolutely need to.

What if you have a cell phone that is closed and does not have an external speaker or mic? And of course assuming the phone is turned off, with the battery in.

What is the distance of the phone to the person in the scenario I just created that one can be heared? And what if there is background music being played?

 

[idiom]

What if your house has been properly shieled like a giant faraday cage?

 

[phoenixrising]

I work for Sprint/Nextel and I can tell you that if you think they will turn against Fox, you are highly mistaken. We get requests by law enforcement all the time to monitor, track and listen in on people's calls/and or text messages.

Your cellphones act like an electronic dog collar and the information we provide to the government (without any need for a warant thanks to the partiot act) can tell authorities where you go, when you sleep, who you talk to and how fast you drive.

They dont care about your complaint because they are apart of the problem. If you want to make a difference cancel your service.

P.S. Do you know that now we have the capability to turn on your cellphone mic remotely and listen to what you are doing?

yes...& the same goes for all the blackberries out there as well

 

[A College Student]

Ok guys, let's all put on our tinfoil hats, run out to our cabins in backwoods Idaho, and cower under the bed.

Big Brother is coming for ya....