Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Tue, 25 Jun 91 04:31:29 PDT From: "John R. Covert 25-Jun-1991 0727" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Emergency Calls (was Operator Busy Break-In) Message-ID: Organization: TELECOM Digest 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 489, Message 2 of 12 Lines: 32 I think Patrick is making laws up again. My phone book says: "State law requires you to yield a party line immediately when told the line is needed for an emergency." Here Massachusetts is referred to. A phone book from neighboring New Hampshire says: "Whoever shall willfully refuse to yield the use of a telephone party line for giving of a fire alarm or emergency call ..." My recollection in every other state is that this only applies to party lines. If the Moderator can provide an example where this applies to single-party service, I would like to see it. john Moderator's Note: IBT phone books used to use the phrase 'party-line' in discussing yeilding of the line in the event of an emergency. Then for a couple years the phrase was 'telephone facilities you share with others', which I assume could mean party lines or extension phones in your home, or I presume a pay phone on the corner you 'share' with others who need to use it. Then they discontinued saying anything about it except to note in the section on 'how and when to use 911' where they noted it was a crime to lodge a phalse report and that 'the sense of the Illinois legislature is that public policy dictates yeilding telephone lines when requested to do so in the event of an emergency communication.' Now the past couple years, nothing is said either way. PAT]