Xref: utzoo alt.privacy:30 comp.org.eff.talk:1813
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!randvax!edhall
From: edhall@rand.org (Ed Hall)
Newsgroups: alt.privacy,comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Caller ID problems
Keywords: Caller ID
Message-ID: <1991Mar31.003440.8270@rand.org>
Date: 31 Mar 91 00:34:40 GMT
References: <1991Mar29.195940.12006@eng.umd.edu> <1991Mar29.220816.8305@ima.isc.com> <1991Mar30.043415.7314@odin.corp.sgi.com>
Sender: news@rand.org
Reply-To: edhall@rand.org
Organization: The RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Lines: 23
Originator: edhall@ives

In article <1991Mar30.043415.7314@odin.corp.sgi.com> steres@chaos.asd.sgi.com (Chris Steres) writes:
>The argument that call in services can register caller ID's to be sold to
>phone solicitors is a non-argument, since with caller ID's I can (hopefully)
>screen out solicitors with the right tool.  I make this claim in light of
>the recent Supreme Court ruling that the White pages listings are not
>copyrightable.

Nope.  There might be a white-page listing for "Ace Telemarketing" (or
whatever), but you'll never receive a call from that number.  Phone
tanks have dozens (maybe hundreds) of phones in them, and each phone
can have a different number.  So let's say you get an abnoxious sales
call, and you lock out the calling number after cussing out the caller
for being so annoying.  He can just use the phone on the desk next
to his and call you right back.  And chances are overwhelming that
the next time your name and number come up, it will be on someone
else's list, so you'll get a call from yet another number.

What's worse, telemarketing organizations tend to move around fairly
frequently anyway--they'll have a whole new set of numbers to bombard
you from.  After Caller-ID, they can even do this intentionally.

		-Ed Hall
		edhall@rand.org