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Telemarketers Held Accountable ... In Theory

Posted by Hemos on from the we'll-see dept.

str83dge writes "The House of Representatives just passed H.R. 90 which amends the Telecommunications Act to prohibit telemarketers from circumventing caller ID. People can file suit against the telemarketers for minimum damages of $500. Privacy.org has a story here. Question: if they circumvent caller ID, won't it be difficult for the average person to determine who actually is calling them? Let's just hope they take this a step further and apply it to spammers. :)"

3 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Anyone filed? by Masem · · Score: 4, Informative
    It's a little early to be suing under this rule. It's only been passed by the House; the Senate needs to pass the same, then they need to resolve any differences, then they need the Prez' signature to get it into law.

    At least, as a good thing, I would figure this would easily pass a Democrate Senate, and already has the blessing of the Republican House (which I would think would be more friendly to telemarkers than the Senate).

    --
    "Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
    "I can see my house from here!" - ST:
  2. Re:No problem if they circumvent Caller ID by GTRacer · · Score: 4, Informative
    True dat!

    I used to have a FirstUSA credit card and they sold our name to a list. Funny thing was, they had my wife's name on the card INORRECTLY, and as she was the primary, the telemarketing weasels would call asking for her by the wrong name - dead giveaway.

    To make things more fun, they'd swear they WERE FirstUSA and all they needed was our address. Su-u-u-ure you're at FirstUSA Corporate...where do you think the bills get sent? Anyhoo, I cancelled FirstUSA and told a supervisor I didn't appreciate the telemarketers, the lies, and the fraudulent charges for "services" we never agreed to.

    God Bless America!

    GTRacer
    - "If I could have just a few moments of your time..."

    --
    Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
  3. Residential ANI by Happy+go+Lucky · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The 800/888 numbers have a feature called Automatic Number Identification, which gives the number from which a call originated. And ANI is basically unblockable. The telcos have realized that toll-free operators, who pay for incoming calls, should be able to know who's calling.

    And I'd give my left nut to be able to get that on regular residential service:
    "Hi, I'm from the Fernwood Chicken Shack and Long-Distance Telephone Service, and I'd like to..."
    "You'd like me to immediately place me on your do-not-call list and.." *CLICK*

    But with ANI, I have the callback number. I can finish the do-not-call demand, and if they disregard it, then I know where to send the process server.

    I think that's why Qwest isn't offering it. They make too much money from their telescammers.