Pretty sure this (carrier control) is the "draconian future" that Vic Gundotra was referring to in http://daringfireball.net/linked..., not the iPhone. I certainly remember conversations at Google in 2004-2005 about the scariness of Verizon etc. being gatekeepers and possible workarounds for that (e.g. becoming an MVNO). - Mihai Parparita