Slashdot Mirror
ABC Ads Target Answering Machines?
Nerftoe writes "ZDTV an article about
automated phone calls to promote its Friday lineup of shows. The odd thing is, ABC doesn't want to talk to humans. They just want to leave their message on your answering machine. What if I real person answers the phone, you ask? That's right, the automated system simply hangs up." I'm not in one of the markets that is doing this, but I have a personal policy of boycotting any business that tele-solicits me. (course the only show on ABC I actually watch is Who's Line is it Anyway, but since Comedy Central airs the much funnier sans-drew English version several times a day anyway, I don't consider that a huge loss either).
Yes $500 - easy money!
It's not like the answering machine can watch TV - why try and convince it to? That must be ABC's target audience, since humans have a tendency to do one of two things when they get an ad on their answering machine, either:
A: fast forward through the message. Newer machines just let you skip with a single button push.
B: Get so angry at this blatant waste of time and invasion of personal space that they actively avoid the ABC network, even if it means skipping Regis.
This makes no sense at all. Anyone who'd be influenced positively by an answering machine ad is probably too stupid to own and operate a machine in the first place, and accordingly has a job that pays so bad they can't afford any of the crap that gets advertised on ABC to begin with.
Hell, most systems only work when a human answers, they don't hang up. The only people who should be considering running answering machine ads for ABC are the other networks. If NBC ran ads for ABC that way, they'd be so pissed at ABC they might well skip their Regis fix.
- -Josh Turiel
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Right, but it does leave messages.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
After the first five seconds, I hang up, trusting that if it's someone I want to talk to, they'll call back.
If you pick up the phone and hear "Please hold" you are advised to hang up as it is either telemarketing or someone to whom you owe money.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Many people in this discussion have been talking about telemarketers hanging up on them Now, IANAL, so I won't get into the legality of hanging up, but I can shed some light the software that many telemarketers use. A predictive dialer works like this:
List of number is input/imported.
Dialer dials each number, really really fast.
If there is an answer, the dialer connects the call to one of the telemarketers. This is why, often there is a one or two second delay from when you say hello, and when the telemarketer starts in.
If the dialer get a connection and there isn't a telemarketer ready to take the call, i.e. they are all on the phone, the dialer hangs up and will try the call again later.
Annoying, but the good predictive dialers can call tens of thousands of numbers an hour. Somehow the dialers is hooked straight into the PBX and can dial the numbers at amazing rates. My $.02 worth.
Pair up in threes. - Yogi Berra
Tytso dun said:
ObDisclaimer: IANAL. I do not even pretend to be a lawyer on the Internet. Your mileage may vary considerably.
At least here in Kentucky, this type of sillybuggers would be illegal on at least two counts:
possible telephone harassment (as in calling, and as soon as a live human picks up, disconnecting--this is different from "predictive dialing" which is the cause of most hangups with telemarketers (basically, nobody available to take the call when your phone number gets rang)
A nifty provision in Kentucky's telemarketing law that prohibits nearly all recorded telemarketing announcements (you have to put a live human on the phone within ten seconds if the company doesn't have a prior business relationship with you, and in all cases you have to provide a number that may be called to be added to a do-not-call list).
Conceivably, you could prolly even get them on federal telemarketing laws for providing no easy way to be added to a do-not-call list and in fact doing everything they can to avoid do-not-call requests (many courts would be likely to see the fact they hang up the snecking phone when a live human picks it up as a deliberate attempt to avoid following federal telemarketing regs, and may even see it as prima facie evidence of "willful" disregard--read: $1500 per offence if you sue in small claims court).
-Windigo The Feral (NYAR!)
>
> The problem is that the phone company turns around and offers a service to businesses: blocked anonymous call rejection override. That way, the businesses that pay the fee can still get through.
>
> They need to start selling is a blocked anonymous call rejection override override.
Why? So we can pay the phone company more to prevent marketers - whose harassment the phone companies already endorse by selling them ACR overriding services - from harassing us?
Why? So that after we've paid (twice!) for protection from harassment, the phone company can then sell ACR-override-override-override ability to the goddamn telemarketers, putting us right back where we started?
Fuck that. What we need is legislation such as the ballot initiative currently going around in California that would ban telemarketing altogether, thereby stopping the problem at its source.
Call rejection isn't the scam. The real scam is the fact thet the phone company makes a small fortune selling weapons to the combatants on both sides of the ongoing privacy arms race.
It's also amazing how often I'll get hangup phone calls from telemarketers. Grr...
In he State of Texas, it is illegal to make a phone call without the intention of talking. Just my 2cents.. AC
Damn. Lots of modem users are about to be arrest in Texas.
-d9
/.
/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
ABC Backs Away From Using Voice Mail to Promote Lineup
I've been getting this stuff for a couple of weeks now. I've never gotten a message on my voice mail, but it does seem to be some automated thing calling me and hanging up.
I can't stand this kind of crap. I live and work not too far from L.A., something like this on my answering machine would have me finding ABC here in town and giving them what for. It's bad enough when automated telemarketing systems call me and expect me to listen to a recording.
This is no longer the case. According to my New York Times on the 22nd, "ABC has backed away from a controversial plan to use sitcom stars like Norm MacDonald to promote its fall lineup by leaving taped messages on the home answering machines of viewers." I'm sure there's a copy available on the online NY Times archive, for a fee. :P ABC was facing a tremendous backlash, and changed their minds about this being a good idea. There may still be references available at the New York Times. The funniest promotional idea for ABC, however, can be found in the bathroom.
Do something about world hunger. Click here
Was it a short, kinda roundish guy, covered in white fur and had large, floppy ears? He also has an affinity for using a switchblade.
Yeah, I think this is the guy.
Any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from Gods.
I got a telemarketer in trouble for violating two rules:
Must be a human who makes the call, and only switches to a recording when the recipient agrees to listen to it. This guy had a war dialer.
Must disconnect when the recipient disconnects. This is to allow someone to hang up and call 911 if necessary. This idiot's machine kept the line tied up for several minutes.
To make it short, I left my name and asked for a callback, then had a zillion reasons for being busy, until he finally gave me his number. Then a quick call to Pac Bell, who refused to do anything, and a call to the state PUC, who straightened them out.
--
Infuriate left and right
I have only a mobile phone anymore, so I no
longer get to do this, but, back in the day,
when I'd get a telemarketer calling, I'd
SIMPLY INITIATE PHONE SEX!!!
Ask the telemarketer what they're wearing.
Ask them to take it off very slowly...
etc...
Funny as hell!
That's why they're hanging up when a human answers the phone!
It's illegal to have a machine dial up and play a recorded spiel. It's easy to prove it if you live in a state that allows a single party to tape a phone call with or without the consent of the other party. A taped call with a spiel that drones on and on despite repeated queries of "Hello? Are you a human or a recording?" is pretty damning evidence that it's a robo-dialer.
But it's much harder to prove that the message on your answering machine was generated by a machine. Telemarketers can, have, and will continue to, perjure themselves on the stand by saying "Yes, that message was left by a live human", thereby turning the burden of proof on the person charging them under the TCPA.
Yet more reason why the entire industry should be outlawed.
In some states, it's illegal for telemarketers to simply drop the line after someone picks up. After all, it can be quite threatening for someone's phone to ring and then to suddenly drop the connection. For all you know, it might be someone checking to see if you're in before deciding to break into your house.....
I think you mean:
ABC: Finding yet another use for the color yellow.
And where do you think they got the list of all their viewer's phone numbers?
You guessed it. Calling the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" 1-800 number! Did you know that you can't block your phone number being relayed to a Toll-Free, 900, or 977 number?
I bet they sell this list to their advertisers too.
~GoRK
Check the law.
It plainly states:
(b) Restrictions on use of automated telephone equipment
(1) Prohibitions
It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States -
(B) to initiate any telephone call to any residential
telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to
deliver a message without the prior express consent of the
called party, unless the call is initiated for emergency
purposes or is exempted by rule or order by the Commission
under paragraph (2)(B);
HELLO?
(Pause)
HANG ON A SECOND...
(Sound of stomping across the floor. Music stops. Sound of stomping across the floor.)
Hello?
(Pause)
Oh... Well he's not here, and I'm just a machine, so you probably should leave a message. (BEEP)
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Telemarketer: Hello, is Mr. Tosh there?
Me: Yes he's here, what is this in relation to?
Telemarketer: We'd like to sell him a...
Me: Ok, I fetch him, just a minute please
Me [leaves receiver off hook, and goes back doing whatever I was doing before]
Me [20 minutes later, after a quick glance at my ISDN logs]: Gee, they are getting stupider day by day: this one stayed 13 minutes!
I'm sure we'd all love the home phone number of the jag-off at ABC who dreamt this wonderful scheme up. Really, any high level executive's phone number will do. When's the last time someone like this got their telephone slashdotted?
[Phone Rings] Me: Hello? Hello?
[Telemarketer answers] TM: Blah blah buy product blah blah.
Me: Yes, I'm very interested, but I'm quite busy. Hang on one sec, I'll be RIGHT back.
I sit back down to dinner, phone off hook.
Several minutes later, that noise that tells me to hang up the phone starts, so I get up and hang up the phone.
The best part is, the most valuable thing they have is an interested customer, second is time. I make them waste time by pretending to be interested, until they decide I must not be... and eventually they hang up. Try it some time.
Lets slashdot those idiots. Option 1: Go find your local station at: http://abc.go.com/local_stations/ls_home.html Call them. If someone picks them hang-up. Repeat this until you get an answer machine and let that machine know how you really feel about this. Option 2: We all request a webpage from www.abc.com if a webserver answers, hang-up. Repeat 50 Gillizion times. DDOS as a form of justified civil disobedience. Heck, they are setting the precedent.
I'm sure with voice recognition etc we can whip something up-
:).
Computer: Hi I'm Eliza.
Marketeer:
C: Does it please you to believe that you're from XXXX and have a great offer for me?
M: Yes!
C: Hmmm....Interesting, could you explain a little bit better?"
M:
C: You seem quite sure!
..
C: I'm actually quite boring, lets talk about you..
And so on
Link.
alan.cohen@abc.com already confirmed that they are *NOT* doing this.
You see, prerecorded calls are *ILLEGAL*, in general, under the TCPA. The prospect of $500 minimum statutory damages *PER PERSON* probably stopped them.
Anyway, this is old news, it went through the TCPA lists a few days ago, and it's already dead.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
In the UK anyway we have a law that prohibits making calls "without intent to communicate" to stop people running wardialers searching for modems.
Sounds like quite a similar situation to me.
And I've won $500 claims in courts against people using them. Right now I have to get around to getting a company called Independent Mortgage in Dana Point, CA, which uses one.
I think you should get $1500 but I couldn't convince the smaill claims court commissioner, even though I had documentary evidence the other guy was perjuring himself.
Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
I've found that people trying to sell phone long distance are a great source of amusement. Asked how many long distance calls I make, I tell them none, cause I don't have any friends. "Will you be my friend. PLEEEEEEEASSSEEEEEE. We can go to hockey games any everything. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEE EEEEE."
Hell, I think this is a good idea! They should make these types of telemarketing calls legal, and outlaw all other types. This way, when I get home from work, all I have to do is keep my finger hovered over the delete button to trash the telemarket calls. And when I'm home and physically pick up the phone, I'd be guarenteed that there's not going to be a sales pitch at the other end.
_______
2B1ASK1
...all the time in the Chicago area. It's getting to the point where nearly half of the phone calls we receive have `dead air' on the other end. Then, some time later, we get a call from a real telemarketer. The current theory is that the telemarketers have their computer call to see if anyone's at home, then queue up the call to one of their telemarketing drones who make the real call.
OK, this isn't exactly what the main posting's about. But this is: I have received several messages on our Ameritech voice mail containing what sound like computer synthesized messages. Mostly regarding whether I want/need new cellular service (Hint to Motorola: NO TO BOTH QUESTIONS!) Since I cannot fast forward through voice mail on Ameritech's service, this really torques me off. If it keeps up I'll have to cancel my voice mail and go back to a tape machine. Wonder if I complain to Ameritech enough whether they'll do anything about the annoyance... Nah! What am I thinking?
--
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
Just a theory, but playing data CD's through speakers can blow them out. Why not hook up your old walkman with a 100 Free Hours On AOL! cd to a big red button on your phone that turns off your receiver (to avoid damaging it), then starts to play the cd? Should fry the telescum's (usually non-cheap) equipment, yes?
Ah, just a thought. At least until I get some schematics.
--
Does narcissism count as a hobby? --Shawn Latimer
Even if the answering machine plan has been cancelled, people using urinals may soon hear wise-ass remarks from ABC star Norm MacDonald as they try to do their business. It's all part of ABC's new strategy: "ABC: As If 'Is That Your Final Answer?' Was Annoying Enough."
BTW, other companies have used answering machines to send advertising. It's similar to "Important Memos!" about vacation packages in Florida coming through the fax machines of office buildings. The phone system where I now work was hit three months ago with telemarketers calling at 5:00 AM and leaving voice mail commercials. Funny thing was, the quality was so bad, you couldn't hear what they were saying over the staticky background music.
For more information, click here.
Sounds close enough to me. Can we have this shot down before it gets out of control? IANAL of course, but I think we can defend against this...
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
It was because of telemarketers that I got a call privacy package added to my phone service. Although I hate giving more money to the telco, it's preferable to dealing with those other wankers.
For those who don't know about or have access to call privacy, it does the following: for all anonymous or blocked calls, the caller is intercepted and forced to say their name (or my name as some of my friends at the office would do!). When I pick up the phone I get to hear the message and either refuse it, answer it, or send it to voice mail. For my friends with cell phones, or co-workers, who don't show up on my caller ID display, I've told them a simple code to bypass the system so that they don't hang around.
A local hardware store sells a little button you can push when you get a call from a telemarketer. It plays a pre-recorded request to remove you from their call list, quotes the approproate legal passages at them, and disconnects.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
"... Advertisers who leave a message on this machine will be charged an access fee of $45. Leaving such a message indicates acceptance of these terms." This is best done with a single-tape answering machine with date, time, caller ID. Each time you get a message, take out the tape, seal it in a bag and write the name of the advertiser, and the date and time on the bag. It is now evidence. Keep it. If the ABC or any other advertiser gets into trouble with the FTC for this, you can turn it over to them. You can also use it yourself if you sue them for breach of contract. --- Or, you might like to try the following message: "Hello? ... (pause) ... No, there's nobody able to take your call at present, so please leave a message after the beep." This attempts to circumvent the answering-machine-detection technology. If the technology assumes that a pause on the other end means there's a human on the line, this will confound the technology. --- Another thing that may confound the technology is if it uses the quality of the signal as an indication of whether it is talking to a human or a machine. The signal quality of answering machine tapes is generally a lot worse than a live human on the line, so if you can somehow get a REALLY high-quality answering-machine message, you may flummox the technology enough to make it hang up. --- Wouldn't it be nice if you could firewall your phone? No caller ID? Reject the call. You may be able to do this at the exchange, but it could also make an interesting project for someone with knowledge of the phone system and time on their hands.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
Most recently, MCI called trying to sell me long distance. I acted amazed at hearing another human voice, and revealed that I had been 'hiding in my Y2K bunker for the last 7 months!' My roommate even got in on it and began shouting in the background about 'cracking open the airlock'. It was a riot!
Other ideas I have tried:
1. If they are trying to sell you a newspaper or magazine, insist that you are psychic and do not need their product, then become disgusted by what they are thinking at that moment.
2. Act like you are in the midst of hostage negotiations. Play the cop side of the conversation. "So if I agree to subscribe to that magazine, will you release some of the hostages?"
3. In an agitated and paranoid voice, ask them how they got the number. Insist that they are lying and are really 'part of the conspiracy' or 'one of them'. There are endless possibilities with this one.
There are also some really great things you can do with a prepared tape of sound effects.
Have fun!
Thad
The Bolachek Journals
Oh sure, like picking up the phone and hearing a busy signal isn't going to be weird. If that happened, I'd call the phone company and report something broken.
'Just like an advertisment on TV', sure, except that TV shows are free, the phone and voice mail are payed for already.
I'd support a complete ban on any unsolicited commercial calling, and a $500 fine or something hefty to back it up. With jail time for anyone found repeat offending.
It is illegal to make unsolicitated calls to a cell phone (US for sure, not sure about other countires) because I pay for the time. I don't answer my land line phone, as that is for the computer, and will soon be cancled when something better comes through. Turns out that with free long distance it is cheaper for me and my roommates to use a cell phone with 600-1000 (day vs weekend) mintues a month.
The ABC Friday lineup simply SUCKS. They have nothing good (in the way of post-adolescent) programming on Friday nights. I guess they are hoping that someone is going to listen to their answering machine and somehow come away saying "...must ... watch ... Sabrina the Teenage Witch..." or "Gee, let me listen to that most annoying theme song to 'Boy Meets World' JUST ONE MORE TIME!"
Give it up ABC. Why not take friday nights and put on back to back episodes of the Drew Carey Show and Who's Line is it Anyway? like you did all week long during the last few months?
Or howabout a new "reality television" show called "Who Wants to be a Pauper?" where we watch failed contestants from "Who Wants to be a Millionare" try to survive among the nations homeless eating rats and fishing street drains for cigarette butts? (Each week one of the contestants would be voted out and forced to play "Big Brother" - a fate worse than "MTV's Real World". The final contestant gets a chance to slap Regis and choke him with his monocrome tie.
Brought to you by Frobozz Magic Penguin Fodder.
I wonder if an automated system telling another automated system to remove the first automated system from the calling list of the second automated system would work? Probably require yet another automated system to edit the list.
Insanity is the last line of defence for the master diplomat. But you have to lay the groundwork early.
(3) The term ''telephone solicitation'' means the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person, [unless based on a prior relationship]
It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States ... (B) to initiate any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party, unless the call is initiated for emergency purposes or is exempted by rule or order by the Commission under paragraph (2)(B);
(3) Private right of action A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State, bring in an appropriate court of that State - (A) an action based on a violation of this subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection to enjoin such violation, (B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to receive $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater, [emphasis added] or (C) both such actions. If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection, the court may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times the amount available under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
In other words, if ABC calls you and either (a) hangs up without talking to you or (b) leaves a prerecorded message on your answering machine, you can take them to small-claims court and get somewhere between $500 and $1500. Not bad for a day's work!
Incidentally, this is the same section that prohibits junk faxes. It can be pretty profitable to read the entire statute.
In college I had a roommate that always said he was going to start talking sexy to them if they were a woman. Now, he was a nice guy and couldn't bring himself to do it... Well he and I stayed up for like 2 days studing for something. (He was the brightest, but he tried hard). So it was like 10am and we had both been asleep for *maybe* 5 hours (after nearly 48 of being awake).
Phone rings, and I answer:
me: "what?"
[5 second pause...i knew it was coming]
her: "good morning, I'm calling for...blah blah blah blah" [i let her talk for about 30 seconds... I was about to hang up and then I got an idea..]
me: "wait a second...let me ask you a question about the interest rate, I'm confused. Is that okay?"
her: "Sure!"
me: [deep i-want-you voice]"what are you wearing?"
her: "what?"
me: "what are you wearning? is it pink. i like pink."
her: "am I wearing anything PINK? THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS."
me: "huh. geez. you could at least talk dirty to me... just like mom use to."
at that point she got all upset and hung up.
nonetheless, we got a kick out of it... reminded me of the Seinfield episode.
---
Ok. Lets see, what idiot came up with this plan in the first place, and how did it almost happen (even if it was canned). I mean, we all HATE spam in our inbox. I know that execs at ABC by now realize that we don't want unsolicited ads in our e-mail (though the thought probably occurred to them).
In my e-mail box, I can read the subject ahead of time, and delete it.
On my voicemail, I have to wait for that slow voice to read out all of the info on the message, or even play the darn thing, before I can burn it.
Goodness, I'd rather get spam in my e-mail from them.
Besides, how freaking effective do these idiots think such a marketting tactics would be. I mean, I don't always listen to a friend, a critic, or a stranger telling me to watch shows. Now an annoying machine, which is the only message on my machine will do the same thing.
"Hello Dungeon Dweller. We know that we are the only message on your machine, that you have no friends and no life, so we decided to tell you that all of the cool people are watching 'Suddenly Susan' and her quirky antics. Byeeeeee."
Yeah, that will sell great.
We're all different.
Eh...
Here's your answer from the relevant US laws:
From Subpart L - Restrictions on Telephone Solicitation
a.2.Initiate any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party, unless the call is initiated for emergency purposes or is exempted by sec. 64.1200(c)
section c says this:
c.The term "telephone call" in sec. 64.1200(a)(2) shall not include a call or message by, or on behalf of, a caller:
1.that is not made for a commercial purpose,
2.that is made for a commercial purpose but does not include the transmission of any unsolicited advertisement,
3.to any person with whom the caller has an established business relationship at the time the call is made, or
4.which is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
So there you go! ABC is giving out $500 checks to everyone who is lucky enough to get a call! Make sure you save those answering machine tapes, boys and girls. The small claims court judge will want to listen to them. While you're at it, go over to www.junkbusters.com and print out a copy of the legislation for the judge. It should be a very easy case to win.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
I'd rather have messages on my machine, it only takes a second to delete if you've got a digial answerer and you don't have to go through the trouble of talking to the (often) moronic people on the line. However, what ABC is doing seems illegal, but I'm not sure on that, wonder if they got all the numbers off people sigining up for Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
TM: Hi, this is [name] from [Big Marketing Company]. Would you be interested in...?
Me: No thanks.
TM: Are you confident?
Me: Yes.
TM: Is that your final answer?
Me: That is my final answer.
[Game show sounds in background]
TM: No, I'm sorry. That is the wrong answer.
=================================
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
of the Corporate States of America...
With normal telemarketing calls, US law says that I can tell them to put me on their do-not-call list, and they have to pay a $500 penalty if they then do call me (assuming I'm willing to go to the hassle of taking them to small claims court).
With this, they hang up before I can ask to be put on that list. Does the law that requires them to honor such requests allow this?
And what about bans on computer calling? Or do they have a real human talk to the answering machine (talk about a boring job)?
There's a radio station nearby where I live in the Bay Area that also drops such crap on your answering machine. I'd be rather pissed if I only got part of a message because the memory on my answering machine (I've got a digital answering machine, thus I said memory, not tape :) ) ran out because part of it was filled with an ADVERTISEMENT.
If they never talk to a human, though, then they will never be subject to this law. Seems pretty sneaky to me.
-----------------------------------------------
Go to http://www.the-dma.org/ and hunt around -- you'll find that you can OPT OUT of telemarketing, EMail marketing and EMail.
It does work.
--
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Candidate records a message, or has a heavy hitter speak on their behalf, and it gets pushed out, and hangs up if a real person answers, as it is only a computer on the other end.
matt
Yeah, the moderation on this was unfair. People should read the parent comments before moderating. /. does not provide a mechanism for conversation other than the posting forum, and therefore, answers and replies to such things are perfectly acceptable. Besides, this is a weblog, we're not writing a daggon book. What, do you really think that someday people are going to start buying the /. archives in paperback (not a bad idea ). At any rate, it may not describe heisman's uncertainty principle in relation to dickheads calling you with machines and leaving spam on your answering machine, but it is relevant converstation to the parent post. Those moderating this post, please read the parent as well.
We're all different.
Eh...
"I feel a distrubates in the force" - ObiWan
Soon as some spammer pirates a copy of this software, all hell is going to break lose. Phone rings constanly, but everytime you answer it, it disconnects. You come home from work and have an entire tape filled with 500 messages, or 4 hours of "voice spam".
Oh you don't think it will happen? Phone numbers are easy to get compared to email address. In fact most, if not all cities organsize a list for free, avaiable to spammers of "live" phone numbers, it is called the phone book.
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
According to the NYTimes, they killed this plan already: "ABC has backed away from a controversial plan to use sitcom stars like Norm MacDonald to promote its fall lineup by leaving taped messages on the home answering machines of viewers. The decision came after the network, known for aggressively seeking ... July 22, 2000, Saturday "
Telemarketer: Hello, is Mr. Tosh there?
Me: Yes he's here, what is this in relation to?
Telemarketer: We'd like to sell him a...
Me: He's got better things to do than talk to you.
*click*
I'd rather have messages on my machine, it only takes a second to delete if you've got a digial answerer and you don't have to go through the trouble of talking to the (often) moronic people on the line. However, what ABC is doing seems illegal, but I'm not sure on that, wonder if they got all the numbers off people sigining up for Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
So which would you rather deal with
Telemarketers (yeah sure you give me YOUR home phone# and I'll call you when I'm free)
Annoying Pauses wehn you DO answer the phone (I usually hang up on them immediately, or let them try to sell their product to my three year old who just LOOOVES to talk on the phone)
or a telemarketer who hangs up when you answer (I agree with the above poster about that being a little disconcerting)
well I guess they went the way of door-to-door salesmen... What's the next great Arthur Miller Spin off..... Death of a Telemarketer (Spammer)???
-- Life: Hate the Game... Love the cereal
The answering machine is the big city where I live.. I get at least one call every day that is a hang up, and while I can't attribute all of those to this kind of marketing, I would venture to guess most of them are by the number of recorded solicitations that appear in my voicemail.
I recently bought an answering machine with 3 separate mailboxes.. You have to push *2 or *3 to leave a message in boxes 2 or 3, but if you don't press anything it defaults to box 1. My friends and family know to press the "secret code" so I can easily discern between messages I want to hear and messages I probably don't.
I toyed with the idea of charging for telephone solicitations, and even called a few companies back to get their mailing address so I could send them an invoice. Most of these were local businesses, horrified at the thought and instantly put me on their do-not-call list. I never followed through with the actual mailing of invoices, but no one called my bluff either.
of course, someone will post the obligatory link to junkbusters' telemarketing script, but that doesn't really help with these machine calls, so i won't bother.
wishus
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Now i gotta install portsentry on my goddamn answering machine. *pfffffffffffffffffft*
--
You can be an atheist and still not want to succumb to some weird cross-over sheep disease -- AC
The details are:
(d) Required oral disclosures. It is an abusive telemarketing act or practice and a violation of this Rule for a telemarketer in an outbound telephone call to fail to disclose promptly and in a clear and conspicuous manner to the person receiving the call, the following information: (1) The identity of the seller; ...
Since the ABC telemarketing device (and I believe advertizing television shows still falls under telemarketing acts) will purposily fail to identify itself, I believe this is an attempt on ABC to intentionally conduct an "abusive telemarketing practice."
While I was chatting with someone (Probably on icb, I don't think I was into irc at the time) I got call-nuked by a church's automated invitation service. Since then I've had an unreasoning hatred of schemes like this.
Now if only there were a physical copper connection between them and me so I could run some wicked voltage to them...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"