On Jul 12, 10:05 am, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Fred Atkinson by writing:
Good advice. However, there is no guarantee. Often telemarketers will violate the lists knowing that 99.999% of the people they bother won't or can't do a damn thing about it. That is, it is way too much trouble to get an accurate identifier number and submit a complaint.
Further, the authorities don't act on one or two complaints. They only react when there are many complaints. The scammers know this*.
Nursing home phones are not supposed to be solicited but that didn't stop them from bothering my mother. On another line supposedly illegal to solicit I got a scam call last night (message said I won $25k and to call in for my prize).
As we've discussed here and in the tech group, there are people with auto dialers who just let them call every number sequentially and not give a damn. They're not gonna bother to check any lists or even whether it's a cell phone or other restricted line.
I think this state of affairs sucks. The #@%$@# lobbyists force us consumers to accept this crap, they got the legislatures to water down laws.
MY RECOMMENDED SOLUTION:
The national telephone network should not accept any call except duly registered carriers. Registration would be such to eliminate any fly- by-night outfits and those with inadequate capital and technical protection. Corporate officers would have to have a background check as is done for other professional licensing.
Also, no calls will be accepted without true autheticated caller-ID information. The network would be rquired to do a test comparing the provided caller ID against the physical entry (that is, a call originating in DC must have a DC area code and exchange matched to the physical line.
If this hurts VOIP or new carriers seeking easy entrance for "competition", too bad! Protection of consumers comes first.
To put it another way, suppose we want to encourage other restaurants than McDonald's. Are we willing to suspend health and buidling code requirements so to give new restaurnats a break on start-up? I don't think so. So why should new telephone companies get a similar break?
[public replies, please] *A friend of mine ordered a new $50 book by mail. The author subsequently decided he would not be able to publish the book, but refused to refund the advance order money. My friend knew several other people who were burned as well and contacted the US Postal Service Inspector unit. Yes, that was a crime they said. No, we're not going to do anything about it because it was too small.