Slashdot Mirror
Cell Phone Directory Coming Soon
applemasker writes "According to this story on Yahoo News via the L.A. Times, an upcoming cell phone directory which supposedly includes 75% of all cell users is in the works. Some people are already receiving cell phone spam and telemarketing calls. Worse yet, unless you opt-out at the beginning of your contract, some carriers such as T-Mobile can gladly hand over your info (though the article says that T-Mobile is changing the contract now). Some good news though, Verizon Wireless has said that it will not share its customer lists. Still, maybe it's time to submit your cell number to the Do Not Call List if you haven't done so already." We had a related story last year.
I thought telemarketing to a cell phone was illegal, due to the fact that you are charged for both incoming and outgoing calls on a cell phone. As I understood it, it's similar to the anti-junk fax laws, which were put in place because you pay for the ink and paper that is wasted.
When their numbers dwindled from 50 to 8, the dwarves began to suspect Hungry.
I almost never get telemarketing calls on my cell. I get a wrong number sometimes.
:)
As soon as I get a telemarketer calling my cell phone, I demand their name, number, organization, address, etc. (as the DNC registry stipulates). Then I will inform them that I will be sending a bill to that address to recover the cost of the minutes that their company just used for me.
Once, I got a telemarketer and as soon as I realized who it was I informed them that it was a cell. She apologized profusely and voluntarily put me on their do-not-call list.
I'm in Indiana, so we have a stricter DNC anyway.
Admittedly, I know only a bit about cel-phones, but the many people I know and work with tend to change numbers frequently. What's practical about a list like this, if the information is consistantly out-of-date? I realise an electronic DB would be easy enough to keep current, but who's goign to use it (besides spammers?)
So the bastard next to me in the movie theater can ruin the experience by getting a call from a jackass he *doesn't* know?
"Wireless carriers say they doubt there will be widespread abuse. They point out that most mobile phones come equipped with caller ID, distinctive ring tones, call blocking and other tools to manage unwanted calls. And several carriers say they have made refunds to subscribers who have received unwanted calls. "
What they fail to understand is that, atleast with my carrier (Sprint), text messages pop up all the time. I have no options to block text messages from certain users, or only allow messages from those in my phone book. I think the biggest area won't be the unwanted calls, but rather the unwanted text messages that cost about as much as it does to send spam messages.
By far.. Worst idea EVER!
Hmmm.
According to this article , the CTIA claims that all the carriers who are going along with the plan are doing so on an opt-in basis for existing customers, and an opt-out basis for new customers, without any additional fees.
The Do Not Call list could not have applied to cell phones because previously, telemarketers were barred from calling any phone where the receiver of the call could be charged for it (i.e. cell phone minutes). I guess that law has changed since inception, or otherwise, the cell phone companies have found a way to make incoming telemarketer calls "free."
/.'ers, who probably have "junk" accounts anyway, would go through the trouble of setting one up just for this?
Conversely (and perhaps slightly O/T), I've always been suspicious of the Do Not Call list, because if you consider it, on one hand it's like a free list that unscrupulous telemarketers can get and spam, and on the other hand, the "gub-mint" can link you email address to your phone number. (We can't call but we can sure spam that email account!) Of course you can get around it by using a quick free e-mail (like yahoo or hotmail) but who do you know outside of us savvy
How can a telemarketer know if you are roaming or not?
Sure i might have free minutes when i'm in colorado, or even the usa. But if i fly home to britain i'll be paying for every second.
Another peeve of mine is that they don't consider the time of day where your phone terminates.. as such when i was living in the UK, i'd get telemarketer calls at 1am since I found it convenient to have a 303 (Denver) number.
It should be illegal to call a phone if it's possible that it rings in a country where it's after 9pm.
I currently run my business with my cell phone. What I did was contact my local land line phone provider (sprint) and asked for a business forwarding number. It is about $12 a month, gets you a listing in the white pages and most importantly, gets you a listing in the yellow pages under the heading of your choice. They then give you a unique local number and that number just forwards calls to whatever number you tell them. In my case, it was my cell phone. You give people your local number number and magically your cell phone always rings. I have not once ever gotten a long distance bill, even if the people who called me were far away, not so far away, or just in the extended local long area. Seems to be quite a good deal.
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln