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From: grs@sacs.wa.com (Gregg Siegfried)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: AT&T Calling Card Discrimination
Message-ID: <9787@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 16 Jul 90 14:05:00 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 488, Message 9 of 9


In article <9738@accuvax.nwu.edu> our Moderator writes:

$Before leaving on my trip, I mentioned that I spoke with the Public
$Relations Department at AT&T to obtain a reponse from them regarding
$their practice of illegally red-lining, or discriminating in the use
$of their calling card.

$[...]

$Anyone, that is, unless you are a Mexican living in southern
$California wanting to call home from a payphone at the place where you
$live ... or if you are an Israeli or Iranian citizen at JFK trying to
$call home before you board your flight. Then, the presumption by AT&T
$is you are likely to be committing fraud, so your call will not be
$processed.

It is my impression that the "redlining" of various high-fraud areas
by AT&T is more for their customers' protection than their own.  The
concern is that there are many people hanging around these areas
trying to 'spot' credit card numbers as they're used to make calls.
Disallowing the use of credit cards in these areas has a twofold
effect ... First, since you cannot use your credit card, an insidious
individual cannot spot it as you make a call, and second, the thief
with a stolen credit card number cannot use it in that particular area
as a "long distance reseller" as is the practice.

As such, I believe a class-action suit would be overkill.  You may
argue that it is your right to give your credit card number away to an
onlooker if you feel like it, and to a certain extent I agree.  On the
other hand, since the telephone company usually ends up footing the
bill for fraud ("Hey!  I didn't make these calls!  Take them off my
bill."), you can hardly blame them for taking such minimal measures to
cover their backs.


Gregg Siegfried                  Siegfried and Associates Consulting Services
grs@sacs.wa.com                  --------------------------------------------
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