>> I suspect from the way current VoIP calls are structured that it would be
>> (a) very easy to spoof the number,
>> (b) impossible to enforce upon overseas numbers and
>> (c) too easy to make the number unavailable in the first place. Heck,
>> even the doctor's office number is "unavailble".
> This is all false. Why do we have this same discussion over and over
> again every few months?
Well, you don't say where you think you got your information. I got mine from the United States Postal Inspectors as far as #1 goes. #2 is only partially true, I admit: in some cases the inspectors are able to extradite the perps, e.g. from Canada. #3 is my personal observation. So I conclude that your knowledge of the above is faulty and your statement doubious.
I do, however, agree with the following ...
Networks should not mark calling party identification received from
> customers as "network provided" in the resulting ISUP Initial Address
> Message. In cases in which the customer-provided number cannot be
> directly verified to be billed to the party originating the call, it
> should be *replaced* in the IAM with the Billing Telephone Number for
> the originating party, which is a _required_ component of the IAM.
> The FCC could require this at the drop of a hat, and it could be
> complied with -- imperfectly at first, much better very quickly --
> with the flick of a switch.
You exagerate: it would require some 30 small steps to comply AND it would cost $.
Network operators should be required to disconnect customers who feed
> bogus customer-provided numbers. Certainly any network providing
> customer-provided numbers and claiming them to be network-provided
> should be disconnected by all of their peers.
With voice over IP there is no "connection" in the classic sense; therefore it is very difficult to determine if a number is a relay or not, i.e. if it is "bogus".
Thor Lancelot Simon snipped-for-privacy@rek.tjls.com
> "We cannot usually in social life pursue a single value or a single moral
> aim, untroubled by the need to compromise with others." - H.L.A. Hart
I expect you to live up to your byline ;-)