If you recall, back in 2007 Verizon made a promise to truly open up their wireless network, through the process has so far consisted more of public relations than meaningful evolution. So with news that Verizon is planning its very own application store for smartphones, it's not too surprising that Verizon's attaching some conditions to the project. According to Verizon's Ryan Hughes, competing app stores will be blocked by default unless specifically requested by the customer, which many may not do. So while Verizon's reaching out to developers and glacially moving toward open smartphones, they're doing it in a very "Verizon" way that protects them from their very worst fear: being a dumb pipe operator that simply runs a network where more innovative companies do the innovating (and generate the ad revenue).