[gguruusa]

Now you're suggesting that the carrier might be actively encouraging employee theft?

BTW, you misunderstood my prior statements - I wasn't suggesting that your postulate wasn't worth looking into, merely that the only injured party is the carrier - and they are perfectly capable of doing their own investigating. I get the feeling you think the public was injurred in some way and they ought to demand a 3rd party investigation. That's just ridiculous.

The rest of your arguments about the carrier making more money by not selling you phones or by you retaining your old phone forever indicate a poor understanding of the carrier business. Like I said before, they make money by selling you phones - if they didn't, you can bet they'd encourage everyone to buy off of e-bay. In the case of you keeping your old phone forever, did you ever consider what it costs to support cell equipment? It's cheaper to give you a $5 phone, not to mention the goodwill it generates, the chance to sell additional services, and the intrinsic benefits of locking you in for another year.

Your point on my statement of "no worse than where you started" would be valid if you consider unexercised rights as having no value. Unfortunately, they do have value.