{"id":1835,"date":"2008-07-20T17:28:08","date_gmt":"2008-07-20T08:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1835"},"modified":"2008-07-23T11:39:43","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T02:39:43","slug":"discussion-softbanks-policy-towards-nj-customers-re-new-iphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1835","title":{"rendered":"Discussion: Softbank’s policy towards NJ customers re new iPhone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a><\/p>\n

Hi Blog. \u00a0This issue has been brought up on other blogs (most notably Japan Probe<\/a>), so I thought I need not duplicate it on Debito.org (I try to limit myself to one blog entry per day). \u00a0But recently I received through the FRANCA Japan list<\/a> a series of thoughtful discussions on the iPhone that are good enough to reprint here. \u00a0Anonymized. \u00a0And note that Softbank already seems to have reacted to the situation. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

================================
\n From: \t Writer A
\nSubject: \t[FRANCA] Yodabashi Akiba Restricts iPhone 3G Sales To Foreigners
\nDate: \tJuly 17, 2008 8:14:32 PM JST
\nTo: \t francajapan@yahoogroups.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where else but Japan would one find a huge electronics retailer, located in a tourist center, that refuses to sell to certain foreigners a phone marketed simultaneously around the world, designed by an American company and distributed by a firm headed by a [naturalized] Zainichi Korean?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yodabashi Akiba (YA), the largest store of the Yodobashi Camera electronics retailer chain, is located in Akihabara, the tourist center that is Ground Zero for anime nerds (otaku). On any given day, one is likely to find Western and Chinese customers shopping at YA, in addition to Japanese customers. Like any cell phone retailer that wants to remain in business. YA has a huge display for Apple’s 3G iPhone, which went on sale in Japan on July 11 and promptly sold out at YA.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But if a foreigner wished to buy an Apple 3G iPhone at YA, that foreigner would find that YAs policy is to refuse to sell a phone to a person with an authorized stay of less than 90 days, and refuses to allow a sale on the installment plan to foreigners with less than 16 months of authorized stay.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Check the <\/strong><\/em>Files section of this Group for a scan of the offending policy document<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (original Japanese).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

Softbank itself does not mention any such restrictions in its iPhone 3G contract terms<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/broadband.mb.softbank.jp\/mb\/legal\/articles\/pdf\/3g_002.pdf<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

and Softbank was the first cell phone provider to take the attitude that if a foreigner is using a credit card, Softbank does not care about the length of stay (because the credit card issuer guarantees payment to Softbank). So, this appears to be a YA policy.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Now, some apologists will offer the following defenses:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

1. YA is worried about not being paid by short-stay foreigners: wrong, YA is paid by the credit card company. Softbank already accepts credit cards, and can cut off service if a customer fails to pay. Why is a foreigner with 15 months 29 days of stay a poor credit risk while one with 16 months is not a credit risk?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2. YA is going out of its way help misguided foreigners who might buy a cell phone in Japan only to find it does not work outside of Japan: wrong, the iPhone 3G is designed to work with most 3G systems around the world, and in fact can work as a wireless terminal without any 3G system at all. The phone is multilingual (Japanese-English-Chinese- whatever) out of the box.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

3. Apple\/Softbank are trying to prevent iPhone 3G units from being taken out of Japan and unlocked (made useable with carriers other than Softbank): Wrong, only YA has this policy, and if anyone is going to buy up hundreds of iPhone 3G units and sell them abroad, it is going to be a yakuza or a snakehead with access to someone who has the proper credentials.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

4. The police made them do it: well, the bigotry of Japanese cops is unlimited, but why can a foreigner show a Japanese health insurance card (no photo, certainly no visa info) or a Japanese driver’s license (no visa info) and be exempt from the restrictions on purchase\/ installment payment?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One has to wonder about Japan’s future when flagship stores in major tourist areas go out of their way to discriminate against foreign customers, without any business or logical reason.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the meantime, one can always boycott YA. Bic Camera has much better service, Yamada Denki is cheaper, and Best Denki has better parking !<\/strong><\/em>
\n================================<\/p>\n

From: Writer B<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Check the Files section of this Group for a scan of the offending policy document (original Japanese).<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

The document says nothing about restrictions on foreigners. It talks about restrictions on people using a foreigners registration card as their means of identification. Being a foreigner does not mean that your foreigner registration card is your only means of identification. Just show your driver’s license or your health insurance card instead.<\/p>\n

BTW, it isn’t Yodobashi specifically; this is very much a Softbank policy. Always has been. The blogosphere has been talking about this for the past week, because of the iPhone, but I remember this from when I first switched to Softbank a couple years ago. I showed my alien registration, it was going to be a problem, so I showed my drivers license instead.<\/em><\/p>\n

================================<\/p>\n

From: Writer C<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I would wait a little on this one. They just announced this morning that all the major cellphone companies are going to implement new, tougher rules on registering phones. The police will be involved, and people will have to provide ID (driving licences were mentioned) and possibly have it copied by the companies. People refusing would be denied contracts, and ‘suspicious’ people refusing would be reported to the police.<\/em><\/p>\n

And this will affect everyone. How they deal with non-Japanese, and non-residents, within this, remains to be seen.<\/em><\/p>\n

================================<\/p>\n

From: Writer A<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To the posters on the subject:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

True, the YA document I discussed and posted does not say foreigners cannot buy an iPhone 3G. It does say that NJ with a stay of less than 91 days cannot buy an iPhone 3G. These very short-term NJ most likely won’t have a Japanese driver’s license or health insurance card. NJs who do have a Japanese driver’s license or health card, as I pointed out, can show either and get around the permitted stay restriction (one hopes), but many NJs with a 91 day to 15-month stay will not have either alternate document.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No, it is not a Softbank policy. It is not a stated policy and it is not an actual policy. I posted the stated policy (the hyperlink to the contract), and it mentions nothing about period of stay. Neither does any official Softbank literature on the iPhone 3G. It is not an unofficial Softbank policy either: I have used Softbank for many years and have never once been asked for a “gaijin card”. I have been asked for other ID and was able to satisfy the ID requirement by producing an official Japanese document that does not include my visa status<\/a>. My understanding is that official iPhone 3G registration in every country requires some kind of proof of identity, but Japan is the only instance I have heard of in which proof of visa status is required. Indeed, in most countries phone companies love foreigners with adequate credit because they make long international telephone calls to their foreign homes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do you think the policy appears in tiny letters at the bottom of a photocopied handout at YA? Perhaps because YA knows the policy is offensive and arbitrary. You won’t find a similar document at your local Softbank shop: the white Softbank iPhone 3G brochure has nothing restricting contracts to persons of a certain permitted stay.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Did [Writer B] switch from DoCoMo to Softbank, and is perhaps melding Softbank into the trauma of dealing with DoCoMo? DoCoMo is infamously NJ-unfriendly<\/a>. It is the spawn of NTT, the phone company that would not hook up NJ to black rotary line telephones in the days when that is what a telephone meant.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another poster mentioned that the police want to have tougher proof of identity requirements for registering cell phones. Actually, the Japanese police have a multi-year history of trying to tie cell phones more conclusively to individuals. The police are the reason one can no longer anonymously purchase a prepaid cell phone in Japan. The police are trying to make it a crime to sell a SIM (telephone number ID chip) from another phone in Japan. The reason is simple: yakuza use untraceable or stolen cell phones for defrauding people. A recent factoid states that Japan is victim to $1 million per day in telephone fraud (the frauds are quite varied, and change frequently, but many of the frauds are perpetrated against the elderly). The yakuza use the phones for a blitz of fraudulent calls, then throw away the phones– and the police can’t find out who is behind the frauds. By itself, requesting positive ID when one registers a cell phone is, I think, NJ-neutral. However, the police in Japan always end up requesting ID from NJ well beyond what is adequate to establish identity, and always end up backing down on the rigor of ID from Japanese citizens. Many of the forms of ID a Japanese can present to satisfy the policy have no photograph, no counterfeiting security, no standard format and are easy to turn out flawlessly with a good computer printer.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If YA has some legitimate business concern, there are ways to satisfy the concern without discriminating against NJ.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Go blog it, <\/strong>Debito!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

================================<\/p>\n

\u00a0From: Writer B<\/p>\n

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No, it is not a Softbank policy. It is not a stated policy and it is not an actual policy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, here is Softbank’s actual policy from Softbank’s official web page:<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/mb.softbank.jp\/mb\/campaign\/3G\/procedure\/<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

This is what lists the documents required to sign up for 3G service. There are many choices, one choice of which is “foreign registration card plus foreign passport”. If you choose that option, you may sign up for Softbank provided that you are not on a 90-day visa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, there are actually two things at play here: The ability to sign up for 3G service and the ability to buy an iPhone on installments. If you pass the first thing, and you are willing to fork over the unsubsidized cash price for an iPhone 3G (70,000-80,000 yen depending on which model), then you have no problems.<\/em><\/p>\n

But this is where the 3-15-month period of stay thing comes in:<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, hmm, Softbank has deleted the document since I saw it a few days ago:<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.japanprobe.com\/?p=5106<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The link that Japanprobe linked to before gave limitations as to who would purchase a phone on installments rather than upfront. It’s gone now. It was a page on Softbank’s official site, however.<\/em><\/p>\n

To be perfectly honest, I think that their requirements are fair: To have service, all you have to do is prove that you live in Japan. If you want to buy a phone on installments (ie, take out credit), you should prove that you intend to pay back that loan, either by proving that you’re integrated enough in society that you have a driving license or health insurance, or at least have a visa that is long enough to cover the period of the loan. If you don’t, you don’t have to buy the phone on installments — you can buy it up front if you like.<\/em><\/p>\n

But whether or not you think that’s fair, the point is you are barking up the wrong tree. It is very definitely Softbank that you are angry at, not Yodobashi. the fact that I (and many others) saw those requirements on Softbank’s website means that, at least as of a week ago, those were Softbank’s policies. I assume that they still are and that Softbank took away the link because people were complaining. But even if not, depending on the timing of when Yodobashi printed up their flyers, it is almost certain that it was because of Softbank’s directions.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Did [Writer B] switch from DoCoMo to Softbank, and is perhaps melding Softbank into the trauma of dealing with DoCoMo?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I did switch from DoCoMo, but your insinuation that I don’t know the difference between phone companies is, quite frankly, insulting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DoCoMo is infamously NJ-unfriendly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maybe.. I never had a problem with them, though <\/em>I understand that a lot of people have<\/em><\/a>, so I am probably in the minority.<\/em><\/p>\n

================================<\/p>\n

ENDS. \u00a0COMMENTS?<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Blog. This issue has been brought up on other blogs (most notably Japan Probe), so I thought I need not duplicate it on Debito.org (I try to limit myself to one blog entry per day). But recently I received through the FRANCA Japan list a series of thoughtful discussions on the iPhone that are good enough to reprint here. Anonymized. And note that Softbank already seems to have reacted to the situation. Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

================================
\nFrom: Writer A
\nSubject: [FRANCA] Yodabashi Akiba Restricts iPhone 3G Sales To Foreigners
\nDate: July 17, 2008 8:14:32 PM JST
\nTo: francajapan@yahoogroups.com<\/p>\n

Where else but Japan would one find a huge electronics retailer, located in a tourist center, that refuses to sell to certain foreigners a phone marketed simultaneously around the world, designed by an American company and distributed by a firm headed by a Zainichi Korean?<\/p>\n

Yodabashi Akiba (YA), the largest store of the Yodobashi Camera electronics retailer chain, is located in Akihabara, the tourist center that is Ground Zero for anime nerds (otaku). On any given day, one is likely to find Western and Chinese customers shopping at YA, in addition to Japanese customers. Like any cell phone retailer that wants to remain in business. YA has a huge display for Apple’s 3G iPhone, which went on sale in Japan on July 11 and promptly sold out at YA.<\/p>\n

But if a foreigner wished to buy an Apple 3G iPhone at YA, that foreigner would find that YAs policy is to refuse to sell a phone to a person with an authorized stay of less than 90 days, and refuses to allow a sale on the installment plan to foreigners with less than 16 months of authorized stay. <\/p>\n

Read discussion…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,43,44,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-bad-business-practices","category-discussions","category-problematic-foreign-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1835\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}