With many retailers contemplating the use of iPhones or other smartphones for mobile payments or as in-store selling aids, overly restrictive contract terms aren't going to fly. But that is exactly what a typical smartphone wireless contract is full of. For example, apps that use data or stream video so an iPhone can work as an in-store sales aid may be a contract violation. And on the customer side, mobile-payment apps violate contract terms, too.

It's bad enough for retailers that smartphones can't be locked down against software changes. But terms like these (which are becoming the norm) mean payment-card transactions and many types of data that retailers may want to use would violate a mobile operator's contract-and could make smartphones practically unusable for in-store purposes. This assumes, of course, that the telcos opt to enforce these clauses, which were probably crafted with little thought about the likely mobile-payment world of 2012.

How bad are these terms? Have you read your wireless contract lately?

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