Hacker News Reader

> Samsung, Apple and LG are among those who have not switched on the chip, but HTC and Motorola chips haven't been blocked, Smulyan says. Sprint has turned on the FM chip for phones on its network.

It seems like they're citing manufacturers as well as carriers. Since many major carriers order variants of phone models specific to their network, it's not out of the question that either could be responsible for the lockout, even if it is at the hardware level.

Is there a reason not to have that trace? And does it only prevent listening via the headset jack, but not on the phone's speakers?

The connection isn't needed for audio -- it's needed because the headphones / line out cable acts as the FM antenna.

How convenient for the phone manufacturers and wireless carriers.

"This article is misleading." ^Yes this is NPR's classic bias against corporations.

Citation needed.

This is a corporation v corporation dispute: broadcasters against carriers and streaming providers.