DEEP SIX MOBILE 411

After studying life on a cosmological scale for decades, Sir Martin Rees, Britain's astronomer royal, has determined that humanity has no better than a 50% chance of surviving into the next century. He even bet $1000 dollars that by the year 2020 (only a sweet 16 party away for today's newborns) bio-terror or bio-error will kill 1 million people in a single event. So it seems absurd to worry about mobile phone providers jeopardizing our privacy with their proposed 411-like information service. But worry we must if life while we have it is to remain tolerable. That's why Verizon Wireless deserves applause for standing up for common sense last week. CEO Dennis Strigl told a U.S. Senate Committee that the proposed wireless information service put forth by the CTIA and other mobile operators is a terrible idea. It is. Recently proposed legislation requiring that cellular customers be allowed to stay out of such a directory for free, is right thinking, but it's not right enough. We already have gone too far down the road on this idea, and it should be put to rest before it gets more out of hand, which it will despite assurances by CTIA head Steve Largent and just about all of Verizon's competitors that it won't. Strigl had it right when he called on the industry to abandon the idea. They can call wireless 411 a service if they want, but to most customers it is more of a disservice. If this is going to be our final century, let's not waste any more time taking phone calls we don't want.