Telcos Play Both Sides of Telemarketing War

Monoman writes "Most Slasdot readers already know this but CNN has an article about how the telcos are reaping profits from selling your phone number to the telemarketers, and selling customers ways to block the telemareketers, and selling telemarketers ways to get around the customers who are paying to have telemarketers blocked and... I think you get the picture. It is nice to see stuff like this in the mainstream media." So either both sides pay the local Baby Bell for its protection racket, or you just pass a law and the problem goes away.

Comments

There is a use for telemarketers

[AnimeRulez]

RANT ON

If they were calling to offer us real deals on the things we really care about, like great anime such as GunBot 2084 or Star Wars DVD's, then I would be happy to hear from telemarketers. But they call and offer useless things like long distance calling plans or newspaper subscriptions. I don't have any friends and never learned to read.

RANT OFF

Have a nice day!
AR

Corporations = ruthless

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

Is this any surprise? Transnational corporations are some of the most heirarchal, authoritatian, and ruthless organizations to ever exist on the face of the Earth.

To them, there is one bottom line: profit. Nothing else matters, and if people suffer from it, whether by telemarketing or in a child labor camp in Bangladesh, it does not factor into a corporation's equation.

Those laws will never get passed, as Congress is thoroughly in the pocketbook of such business, and many of the Congressmen make their money simply by whoring themselves out to corporations.

Nothing is ever done about the complaints for the do not call lists, and it seems that, due to technology, we're just going to have to put up with spam over all lines, both CAT5 and CAT3, until there's a serious change of government here in the US.

Re:State Opt Out

[cheezedawg]

Now, telemarketers bug me as much as the next guy, but why do we have to involve the government in everything? The reason we get telemarketing calls is that the telemarketers make money. If you want to stop the calls, don't buy anything. If you really want to stop the calls, then encourage other people not to buy anything from telemarketers too. All these anit-telemarketing laws do is take more freedoms away from the public.

I think that is the biggest problem with our (the US) government- they think that everything is their business. Thats why you have to have a state license to give a freakin manicure or other idiotic laws like that.

Slasdot?

[p0rnking]

""Most Slasdot readers already know this but ..." So, who exactly are these "Slasdot" readers anyhow?