The percentage of electronics at the end of their lives which were recycled.
The EPA found that the percentage remained consistent from 1999-2005. Even as recycling rates went up, the amount of electronics reaching end of life outpaced the increase, leaving the figure static. (source: EPA, July 2008)
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Seems like it could be nice. But I don't like the government telling businesses what to do, unless it is really needed, of course. I am not sure this is very necassary, though.
You're so right. Government should stay out of it. Let the market handle it. We don't have anything like a mobile provider monopoly in the US.
Nobody likes contracts, but we seem to like paying full-price up front for a new phone even less. Subsidizing phones is a great tool that allows more people to get into a mobile phone. Contracts with penalties are the necessary protection to protect the carriers from getting screwed when they're selling handsets at a loss.
Yes, there is no monopoly, making for quite nice competition. In fact, hasn't the market been moving in this proposed-bill's direction for years and STILL IS? Haven't all or most of the providers started offering pro rated ETF's? And remember years ago when it was so hard to figure out the actual costs of plans and options, etc. It used to be a very common occurence for people to be blown away when they started getting bills (b/c of things like roaming and overage minutes). That has lessened a lot in recent years. Whenever I look at planes these days, they are fairly clear and easy to compare between providers. Sure they could be even clearer, but it is not that bad. Yes there are taxes and some fees (imposed by the Government) that they don't tell you about, but that is normal. Nobody advertises how much the price of the big screen TV will cost AFTER the taxes.