Slashdot Mirror
Ebay Suspends Phone Number Sales
wellingt writes "According to the
Jackson Sun, the attention brought by the sale of Jenny's famous 867-5309 has led Ebay to evaluate whether or not phone numbers are the property of their owner, and whether they can be sold. Verizon has made the claim otherwise."
Next thing you know the SSN I bought of Ebay will turn out to be nontranferable too.
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Tsiangkun
How many people actually still call for Jenny more than 20 years after release of the song called 867-5309/Jenny?
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," dealership owner Mike Blacksher said
Dad, STOP calling Jenny or else I HAVE to go tell Mom.
Free XBox, PS2
I actually knew of a guy in Murfreesboro, TN that had the misfortune of having this as his phone number. He got all sorts of calls from people who were just dialing the number for kicks, and wound up putting "No, Jenny's not here," on his answering machine.
Don't Panic!
Will they say, "Jenny, I've got your number"? If they don't, it's a travesty of justice.
Addresses, work and home. Email addresses. Licence plates. Addresses of children's schools.
Obligatory Scarface quote: "You know, if anyone wanted to assassinate you Frank, you wouldn't be too hard to find."
...low Slashdot ID numbers?
Register a patent on the phone number.
Start suing.
No basis for a lawsuit? Why let that stop you?
Somewhere out there, Tommy Tutone is laughing his ass off!
Would you really want to have a "famous" phone number? Just think about all the random calls you would get? How many people call 867-5309 just to see if someone answers? Then again, I am considering buying 1-800-eat-shit for my technical support line...
when i moved into my apartment in august, my roomates and i discovered that the building exchange was 382...spelling "FUC". you can only imagine what our final decision was when we called the local telco company and requested a vanity number. i will say this: the prank phone calls are USUALLY lame...but there have been a few worth note: "damn...someone already has this number!" "do you know what your number spells?" "you're daughter come over my house, and she kick my dog" etc. regardless, telling girls my phone number ensures they will NEVER forget it.
Many people are asking who would want this number anyway? I think it would be really smart for a telemarketer to buy up the number in as many area codes as possible. All kinds of random people would be calling them, and maybe they can keep some talking long enough to sell something. Then at least one company wouldn't be calling people at home at dinner time. Their new customers would come to them.
Developers: We can use your help.
oh yeah they have...
a spokeswoman for BellSouth said nothing prevents a customer from transferring a number to someone else.
"What two parties do between themselves is between them," she said. "We provide phone service."
Right on. The phone company can stay the hell away from poking their nose into what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own...
oh, nevermind
BTW, isn't Verizon the one running an ad with the Jenny song for number portability (or was it Cingular)?
*I wonder if the renewed interest in the Jenny number has more to do with the number portability ad from Verizon or the stupid candy bar commercial?
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
Verizon said its customers don't own their phone numbers, so the right to 212-867-5309 cannot be sold. But in Nashville, a spokeswoman for BellSouth said nothing prevents a customer from transferring a number to someone else.
This is sometimes done for business partners who split up and the other person takes the number, Sybil McLain said. "What two parties do between themselves is between them," she said. "We provide phone service."
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
I'm betting people are going to start selling 'sexy' IP addresses as well.
So I can make someone out there a great deal on 10.10.10.10 if they want it...
Hehe...
I have a friend that I like to call GPoK. That stands for 'Great Purveyor of Knowledge'. He would probably have some great insight to share with us about this topic. I will try to get him to post.
My friends asked for 382-5968 (f***-you), and it rings at least as much as 867-5309...
Just last year someone called me and asked if they could buy my phone number. Ameritech wouldn't let me transfer the number directly, so I just ordered a bride from russia, and once we were married we had the phone number reassigned to both of us. Then I divorced her and she took the phone number with her. Then the person who wanted the phone number married her, got the phone number reassigned to both of them, and then divorced her and shipped her back to Russia, keeping the phone number.
paintball
111-1111 Lois? *damn* 111-1112 Lois? *damn* 111-1113 Lois? *damn*
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.