So... spent almost 2 hours on the phone with Nokia USA today. Escalated through every level of sales, was told to wait until the 27th until attempting to order again (they will not even let me try to order). They don't know whether it will approve or not if I wait (they hope it will ), but they say there is a better chance "upper management" will have a resolution by that date. </give-a-damn>

Fortunately, I saw this coming and locked in a pre-order with amazon last night before they raised the price. Maybe I'll e-bay my 24-Sept place in line to someone with a less criminal looking identity to subsidize some of the cost...