If you watch TV or listen to the radio, you’ve probably heard your fair share cell phone advertisements, which are ubiquitous. What I’ve always found interesting about them is how the coyly squeeze in all that legal jargon at the end of the commercial, either by displaying it in illegible fine print or by a quickly worded addendum that the average human could never comprehend, or for that matter, would even make the slightest effort to try to understand.

Well, it just so happens that part of that message relates to what are known as early termination fees. These fees, as everyone who has a cell phone is well aware of, are a penalty that the service providers charge if you back out of, or sometimes even simply change, your original agreement.

The reasons for why you might want to do this could be as simple as the phone being too expensive or the realization that maybe you didn’t actually need one in the first place. Whatever the conclusion, once you lock into a phone plan, you’re in it for the duration of the agreement, which usually ranges anywhere from one to three years. If you do want to change, the penalties are steep, often running into the hundreds of dollars.

The cell phone companies claim the fees are necessary because they help subsidize the cost of the cell phones, while consumers argue that the fees are unreasonable and are simply a ploy by the cell phone providers to lock customers into their service.

Well, now the government is trying to do something about it. Under an FCC proposal , lawmakers want to eliminate cancellation fees for up to 30 days after a customer signs a contract or ten days after they receive their first bill. They also want to cap fees and make them more representative of the costs incurred by the phone company while also prorating the penalties over the course of the contract.

Too good to be true? Well, of course there’s a reason behind it, and as hard as it may be to believe, it is not entirely altruistic. It should be mentioned that this proposal was submitted to the FCC by the phone companies, which pretty much says all that need be said.

It turns out that the cell phone companies are currently embroiled in a series of class action lawsuits by angry customers who are trying to recoup billions of dollars of late fees in the state courts. If the FCC approves this bill, it would exempt the phone companies not only from these lawsuits, but also from any further state regulation of these charges. As it stands today, federal law prohibits the states from overseeing wireless rates but gives them some authority over contractual terms and conditions.

Regardless of the outcome, people with cell phones should do their homework and choose a plan responsibly. And remember to take some time to sort through the legal jargon that is sequestered in the fine print of your contract. It could spare you a lot of pain and suffering, not to mention expense, in the future.

如果你看电视或听广播，您可能早已听到过关于你那款手机的（各种）广告，这些手机广告无处不在，充斥着生活的方方面面。这些广告一直吸引我的地方在于，那些法律术语是如何被巧妙地塞入到商业的背后。它们不是通过字迹难以辨认的附属细则来展示它，就是通过附录来展示它。附录措辞简洁快速普通人可能永远也无法理解，或着因为如此措辞，人们甚至不会做丝毫的努力去尝试理解它。

哎，事情就是这样，那种信息的一部分与人们称之为的提前终止费有关。正如每个拥有手机的人所深知的那样，这些收费是服务供应商对你终止或者有时仅仅是改变原始协议所收取的罚金。

你可能想要这么做的原因可能仅仅就是因为电话（费）过于昂贵，或者意识到首先你可能实际上并不需要一部手机。无论结论如何，一旦你锁定了一个电话套餐，你在协议有效期内都要受到它的限制。这种协议通常涉及到方方面面，期限范围为1至3年。如果你确实想改变协议，罚金是相当高的，往往可达到数百美元。

手机公司声称收取这些费是必要的，因为它们（收费）帮助补贴手机的成本，而消费者却认为收费是不合理的，仅仅是移动电话运营商为把顾客锁定到他们的服务所使用的一个伎俩。

现在政府正试图解决这一问题。根据联邦电信委员会一项提案，立法者想要使消费者在签定合同30天内或者在收到帐单10天内取消取消收费。一方面，他们想要设定收费的上限，使其更能代表（该）电话公司所负担的成本，另一方面使各方在合同期内按比例分摊罚金。

这条消息太好了，以至于人们难以相信它是真的，不是吗？当然，这背后是有原因的，尽管它可能难以另人们相信，但它不是完全没有私心的（或完全为消费者着想的）。应该指出这个提议是由电话公司提交给联邦电信委员会的，这就充分说明了一切。

原来该手机公司目前正卷入了一连串的集体诉讼案件之中，因为愤怒的消费者正试图通过向各州法院上诉而收回数十亿美元的滞纳金。如果联邦电信委员会批准这一法案，它不仅可使电话公司免除这些诉讼，而且还可使其免除各州对这些收费的任何进一步规定。现在，美国联邦法律禁止各州监管无线利率，但给他们一些监管合同条款和条件的权力。.

无论结果如何，拥有手机的人应该做自己的功课（自己的事），负责任地选择一项计划。并记住花时间去挑选出隐藏在合同中附属细则里的那些法律术语。它可以使你在将来免受很多痛苦和折磨，更不用说钱了。