IP Democracy: Reprehensible Tent-Folding at SunRocket, Amp'd

Two items today attest to what I hope is not a trend in today’s tech-based service world. The first is Matt Richtel’s article in the New York Times about the human cost of SunRocket’s sudden shut-down. When I initially read that SunRocket had quietly folded its tents and decamped under the cover of darkness, my first reaction was genuine sympathy for the customers left in the lurch.

Sure enough, Richtel tells the tale of Marshel Emery, an unemployed father of three who was suddenly left with no means of telephonic contact with prospective employers. That hurts to hear and SunRocket’s backers should be ashamed at giving folks like Emery no warning.

Although not as high on the moral outrage scale, mobile video service provider Amp’d is, according to Om, probably on the cusp of a similar plug-pulling. Om nails it when he says this kind of stealth shut-down is “unfair and amoral.”

But it’s only a matter of time before this kind of reprehensible tent-folding will attract the attention of regulators, particularly when it comes to telephony. John Nakahata, former chief of staff for the Federal Communications Commission and Blair Levin, former FCC chief of staff and now an analyst, both hint at this outcome in Richtel’s piece. Let’s hope so.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 23, 2007 11:40 AM to IP Democracy