It would be nice, of course, if Microsoft had a road to Damascus moment and suddenly made Xbox Live free as many have requested, but I have a feeling they have too many people locked into the auto-pay option to just shut the whole system down.

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In the three-years Auto-By-Tel has been in operation it has signed up a network of 2, 700 dealers, who pay the firm a monthly fee of several thousand dollars in return for exclusive rights to an Auto-By-Tel territory.

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In 2011, the company and the United Auto Workers agreed to profit-sharing instead of pay raises.

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It said there was support for the four underlying principles of simplification, auto-entitlement, information transfer and making work pay, with a call for those individuals currently receiving passported benefits to continue to receive them.

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Mascarenas says such an auto-based network could also help future motorists locate and reserve parking spaces in garages and pay tolls remotely, among other functions.

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