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From: sneaky!gordon@uunet.uu.net (Gordon Burditt)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Phone Calls and Stamps as Lottery Fees
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Date: 21 Mar 90 20:28:43 GMT
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[Moderator's Note: My original comments deleted. See above message.  PT]

States like Missouri aside, isn't the important part WHO GETS THE
PAYMENT?  When you mail in a sweepstakes entry, none of the postage
goes to the contest operator, unless the USPS is running a
sweepstakes, which I've never heard of it doing.  Entering by a toll
call doesn't involve any payment to the sweepstakes operator unless a
phone company is running it, OR if the call is to a slime (976 or 900)
number.  (Note: slimeyness is in the billing method, not the subject
matter of the phone call)

In the case of a 976 or 900 number where the customer payment is
non-zero, it sure looks like a payment to the sweepstakes operator to
me, even if the payment just subsidizes the cost of the phone line,
and especially if it's more than that.

						Gordon L. Burditt
						sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon