Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: 26 May 91 18:14:48 GMT From: Gordon Burditt Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze Message-ID: Organization: Gordon Burditt Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 400, Message 5 of 9 Lines: 35 > It seems someone has a patent to inject advertising messages > in the silent intervals between audible ringing signals. Worse yet, > the RBOCs seem to be all agog at this marvelous new thought about > getting revenue out of otherwise "dead air time!" I'd love to see this patent make money only by suing people who infringe it, much like a certain company is doing with public-key encryption. This sounds like yet another scheme to jack up the rates for data users. Many modems will abort the call if they detect voice on the line. Ads will do wonders for call completion rates. On the other hand, it might fake out those blasted robot dialers that call and deliver ads. If you hear one of these on your line, call the telephone company and complain about hearing someone else's conversation on your line. Ask if your conversations can be overheard as easily by someone else. (Southwestern Bell seems to take audible crosstalk seriously, as demonstrated during the first big rain after my second line was installed. It seems one side of my line got shorted to one side of someone else's. I could hear someone talking, even over dialtone. They had someone checking on it very fast, in the middle of a miserable thunderstorm.) Then call the advertiser's 800 line (any 800 line they happen to have) and complain. Also call the telephone company business office and hold them responsible for the content of the ads. Try to get them to make good on the warranty. It won't do any good, but maybe the jump in customer-service calls will convince them that ads are a bad idea. One complaint for each non-complaint call you make seems about right. Gordon L. Burditt sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon