why verizon can kiss my ass   (geekin, link)

http://www.nuclearelephant.com/papers/v710.html
Code As Law, as implemented by Verizon:
BellSouth is the local telephone company where I live. Ironically, they don't seem as much concerned about the features of my home phone or answering machine as Verizon is about my mobile phone. Why is that? Could it be that BellSouth realizes the equipment belongs to me? Yes! Before things were broken up by the courts, AT&T (who owned the network at the time) used to charge their customers equipment rental fees just to own a telephone. In fact, it was at one time illegal to plug anything into your phone jack that wasn't sanctioned AT&T equipment. Asinine, huh? Well, not as much as repeating history. Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't need the courts to outlaw competing technologies - they're able to do it themselves now by blacklisting ESNs, as Ms. Raney gladly explained to me.