@jbtaylor on tech

CTIA, the wireless association, has released a study which breaks down wireless taxes by state. The study ranks the states by the combined Federal, state and local taxes wireless customers pay.

The results are stunning.

Out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, residents of only 3 states pay less than 10 percent of their wireless bill in taxes. Put differently, most all of us pay at least 10 percent of our wireless bills, not for wireless service, but for taxes.

Residents of Nebraska, Washington, New York, Florida and Illinois have it the worst. They pay more than a fifth of their wireless bill in taxes.

Let me be clear: I understand that governments need to collect taxes in order to provide services. I'm certainly not against taxes, but I think they should be distributed fairly.

By any measure, wireless service is taxed a relatively high level compared to other services. My personal view is that the politicians are hoping you won't notice.

And the truth is, you probably won't. If your state senator voted to raised taxes on your wireless service would you know?

Or more to the point, do you even know how much of your wireless service bill goes to paying taxes?

When I was in graduate school in Philadelphia, I live a few blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Betsy Ross's house was around the corner, as was Christ Church where many (but by no means all) of the signers of the Declaration of Independence worshiped.

But don't be confused. Americans have several misunderstandings about the 4th of July.

First, Americans didn't declare independence from England on July 4. That happened on July 2, 1776. Most of the signers didn't actually sign the Declaration until August and some even later in January of 1777.

As for the Liberty Bell, there's no evidence it was rung to signal independence. In fact it didn't get the moniker, "Liberty Bell" until the 19th century.

And Betsy Ross's house -- well, there's no proof she actually lived there. And there's no evidence that she actually sewed the first American flag.

Still, despite these myths, legends and misunderstandings, the ideas behind the American Revolution endure. The notion of individual liberty has spread throughout the world. I'm eternally grateful for that.

Earlier this year, CTIA -- the Wireless Association, launched an advertising campaign linking your wireless phone to freedom. The tagline is, "Wireless is Freedom". But the spot's script is from "My Country Tis of Thee"

I never thought "Let Freedom Ring" would be used to promote the cell phone, but there's something to that.

Most of us leave our homes with three things -- our wallets, our keys and our cell phone. Being wire-LESS means we can stay more connected than ever before. (I feel like my freedom is a little less when I forget to bring my phone with me.)

In the rest of the world, the cell phone has taken on an even more important role in life.

Last year in Iran, we saw average citizens use their wireless phones to tweet, film and text details of what the Iranian government was actually doing to its people who dared to protest a rigged election.

In North Korea, along the border from China, residents get news from the outside world via cell phones. (And there's very little the repressive North Korean government can do about it.)

This rapid exchange of information and ideas is essential to protecting our basic freedoms and extending those freedoms to others. That the cell phone plays even a small role in that makes me proud to work in this industry.

As for work, I'm taking a few days off to spend time with family and friends. I also plan to spend some time reading a bit more about what happened in Philadelphia in 1776.

I hope you can do that same.

I'm more than appalled that anyone would spend $325,000 for a cell phone. But I do hope that the buyer of said phone recycles their old phone. (April is CTIA's Month of Green. And just last week, we observed the National Cell Phone Recycling Week, you know.)

Sprint will take your old phone and recondition it or recycle it and use the proceeds from the sale to help finance an Internet safety program for kids.

Check it out.