Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: dorl@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Michael Dorl)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: The 900 Sleaze Keeps Rolling In!
Message-ID: <12801@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 Sep 90 00:25:24 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 696, Message 1 of 14


I received a letter in the mail today saying I won one of three
prizes...

  $5000                                    1/300,000 odds

  $2500                                    5/300,000 odds

  $1000 discount shopping spree            1/1 odds

A careful reading of the small print shows there's a 1/1 chance of
winning the last prize which evidentally allows you to buy something
from their catalog.

The real sleaze in this deal is the $9.00 (3.98 plus 1.97/minute, 2.5
minute minimum) cost of the 900 number call you must call to claim the
prize.  One can claim the prize my US Mail to avoid making this a
lottery (illegal in Wisconsin unless run by the state).

I'm curious about the division of the spoils between the perpetrators
of this sleaze and the phone company.  How does the $9.00 get divided
up between the two LECs and the IXC?

Any of the defenders of the use of 900 service can have my winning
number for the asking :-).


Michael Dorl              (608) 262-0466  fax (608) 262-4679
dorl@vms.macc.wisc.edu    MACC / University of Wisconsin - Madison
dorl@wiscmacc.bitnet      1210 W. Dayton St. / Madison, WI 53706


[Moderator's Note: Gosh, that's mighty gracious of you, to share your
discount purchasing power with the rest of us! I so appreciate it I
think I will answer your question. Between the two LEC's and the IXC,
they get about a dollar of it, at most. And there may be only one LEC
involved, since the recipient of your call might have a dish on the
roof and accept the incoming call direct from the 900 service
provider. A sales rep from Telesphere once told me (if I wanted a 900
line) they would charge me fifteen cents per call, and ten cents per
minute of conversation. Anything above that is profit for the owner of
the line.  Some 900 outfits pay all costs and split with you 50/50 on
the revenue from callers. PAT]