[LINK] 'Do not call' phone list Bill shelved

[Craig Sanders]

On Fri, Nov 04, 2005 at 05:13:53PM +1100, Brendan Scott wrote:
> Brendan Scott wrote:
> >The most effective weapon against telemarketers would be a requirement 
> >for them to present CLI on all telemarketing calls they make.
> 
> PS: because then we could ask Craig to set up a system to ban incoming 
> calls originating from the same network... ;-)

the technology to do it is available - i just haven't played with
it much yet. phone-spam is annoying but isn't frequent enough to
expend much effort blocking it yet (although it has been getting
noticably worse for the last year or two, and shows every sign of
getting considerably worse in the future).

i'm already thinking of setting up asterisk on my linux box with an FXO
card connected to the voice line (and replace the phone handsets with
USB handsets connected to each of the computers here). any caller with
an unknown or blocked CLI would be diverted to a recording saying "if
you're a telemarketer, then piss off(*). otherwise press 1". apparently,
it's possible to rig it up so that asterisk wont make the phone handset
ring unless it's a known CLI or some other condition (like the caller
pressing "1") is met.

relying on government to actually regulate these vermin is pointless -
they're never going to put citizen's interests ahead of business lobby
groups....especially when Howard's own son is a known phone and email
spammer.


as you say, i doubt if any telemarketing scum do present CLI when they
call - but if any do, i'd add them to a blacklist...they could call as
often as they wanted but they'd either never get an answer or they'd be
diverted into a recorded message telling them where to go. which, of
course, is why the scum don't want to present CLI on their calls...and
why they'd resist any requirement to do so as strenuously as they resist
a national do-not-call list.



(*) this is actually a LOT politer than what i tell them in person...as
soon as i identify that it's phone-spam (that's easy - no-one i know or
want to talk to ever asks for Mr. Sanders), i start by telling them we
don't accept junk calls, tell them never to call again, finish off with
a four-word phrase ending in "and die", and then hang up immediately.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>           (part time cyborg)