Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!rutgers!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: well!bluefire@lll-crg.llnl.gov (Bob Jacobson) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Caller ID Saves A Life! Message-ID: Date: 22 Oct 89 00:50:18 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Bob Jacobson Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA Lines: 33 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 468, message 3 of 8 If Caller ID is such a hog in a conference dedicated to discussions of telephone technology, why not put it in a soc.privacy conference? On the other hand, maybe because it is the central issue in the developing telecom industry, putting *everything* in another conference would really turn us into policy ostriches, no? I don't think it's "splitting hairs" to note that Caller ID as a commercial service is quite different from 911-E emergency service. Technology is more than the sum of its parts, and how a technology is used determines what we think about it and how we regulate its use. This type of critical discrimination is essential to wise technology assessment and the moderator of a conference so much in the middle of things should be able to exercise it well. The new Caller ID law recently enacted in CA permits a user to block ID display on a call by call basis. However, it only blocks display, not carriage of the identifying information. Thus, the local pizza delivery boy may not get your phone number if you block, but the telecom manager at Mr. Pizza will be able to provide corporate HQ with a list of all calls made to all of the local shops, with identifying data. Pretty soon we're gonna have pizzas designed by neighborhood taste. I hope I live among the pepperoni lovers. ============================== [Moderator's Note: Responding specifically to the third paragraph of Mr. Jacobson's letter, and in general to the rest, I would remind all readers that a series of articles in the Telecom Archives discusses Caller ID in a pizza delivery application. During September, 1988, RISKS published a series of articles, including two from myself, debating the merits of Caller ID. Will Martin kindly forwarded this to the Archives on 9-14-88, and it is filed as 'pizza.auto.nmbr.id'. Use 'ftp cs.bu.edu' to get your copy. Log in anonymous, use a non-null password, then 'cd telecom-archives' and pull the file. PT]