iPhone vs. Working Assets- is Apple just a bunch of telecomm whores?

After dumping on the hype about the iPhone, I can’t resist adding another piece of information about why I’m suspect about (nearly) everyone’s favorite gadget of ‘07.  This Alternet article lays out the case that the Working Assets group has against Apple’s product.  While telecomms bowed to the Bush administration’s illegal wire tapping scheme, Apple was happy to work with one of them but as the article points out WA might have unwittingly too.  Be that as it may, the larger point is that Apple has tied down their system to one single carrier (AT&T) while shutting out the other phone companies, who (in fairness) did have a shot at the iPhone previously.  Not only does it force any drooling consumer to drop their carrier for AT&T but it also stifles any innovation or new players in a tightly controlled (aka monopolized) market.