MALAYSIA TO BAN DIVORCE VIA TEXT MESSAGING
Malaysian men may no longer notify their wives that they're divorcing them via e-mail or text messaging, according to an Islamic court ruling last week. The practice had gained in popularity in some Islamic countries in recent years, with some religious authorities sanctioning it. According to Islamic law, a husband can divorce his wife simply by declaring his intention to do so and then repeating that desire before a religious law judge. (The procedure for wives is much more difficult.) Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that while text messaging is not explicitly prohibited under Malaysia's current laws, "it is not the way to get divorced." Abdul Hamid Othman, the government's official religious adviser, added, "Husbands should not be allowed to freely use SMS (text messaging) and other easy methods such as e-mails, voicemail or even facsimile to begin divorce proceedings. We must put a stop to it as it is morally wrong and unacceptable to society." (AP 31 Jul 2003) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030731/D7SKO2FG1.html
...federal do-not-call went into operation this week..."Most telemarketers cannot call your telephone number if it is in the National Do Not Call Registry. You can register your home and mobile phone numbers for free. Your registration will be effective for five years."
Telemarketing opt-out site swamped
A crush of consumers rushes a federal Web site launched Friday to let people
opt out of telemarketing calls, crippling the site's servers and slowing access
to a crawl. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/932304.asp
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled against Verizon Wireless and a cell phone trade group, upholding a rule passed by the Federal Communications Commission that allows cell phone consumers to change carriers but keep their phone numbers. Reuters, 6 June 2003