Well said Greg. The whole electromagnetic spectrum needs to be regulated "to the good of the general public" (as Josh writes about hazardous wastes). The mainstream commercial marketplace has demonstrated time and time again that the needs of the minority, especially those with disabilities, will be ignored, if the manufacturers are unregulated.
Does anyone here think Microsoft has done as much as they have because they were enlightened? Here is the best online summary I have found on that story: http://blogs.sun.com/korn/date/20051113#Massachusetts_Accessibility_Background Section 508 is interesting because there is no law that require IT manufactures to make their consumer products accessible. But the government can decide that it will only purchase accessible IT! Make no mistake about it, 508 is civil rights legislation, but it walks a fine line between advocacy and overly intruding into the consumer market place. I quote from: http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/preamble.htm Not all government policies are based on maximizing economic efficiency. Some policies are based on furthering the rights of certain classes of individuals to achieve more equitable results, regardless of the effect on economic efficiency. Accessibility to electronic information and technology is an essential component of civil rights for persons with disabilities. The final rule will ensure that Federal employees with disabilities will have access to electronic and information technology used by the Federal government that is comparable to that of Federal employees without disabilities; and that members of the public with disabilities will have comparable access to information and services provided to members of the public without disabilities through the use of Federal electronic and information technology. Yes Josh, we will have to agree to disagree about if the government should regulate consumer telephony products or not.
