Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 exptools 1/6/84; site ihu1g.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!ihu1g!fish From: fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) Newsgroups: net.consumers,net.flame,net.legal Subject: Re: Junk Phone Calls Message-ID: <241@ihu1g.UUCP> Date: Wed, 7-Mar-84 23:24:04 EST Article-I.D.: ihu1g.241 Posted: Wed Mar 7 23:24:04 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 8-Mar-84 19:27:30 EST References: teldata.253, <2564@utah-cs.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL Lines: 23 (oo) I don't know about legal solutions, but technological ones are not too far off. There was a press release some time back announcing the successful trial of a new telephone networking system developed here at Bell Labs. Among the many things this system will let you do is reject phone calls originating from certain numbers. If you get an offending call, all you need do is push a few buttons, and no one dialing from that number will ever be able to reach you again. I can't give out many other details, for one, because I don't know, and also because I'm not supposed to anyway, but you can look for this service to be more widely available by the end of the decade. As a stopgap, I just have all of my phones save one silenced. I can make calls on them, but they won't ring. The one phone that does ring is wired to a switch I use to cut off the outside world when I'm eating, etc. Most nuisance callers don't call after 9:00 PM, so I have my friends trained to call after then. On those occasions when some obnoxious solicitor does get through, I am EXTREMELY rude with them, and that at least gives me a little satisfaction. -- Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihu1g!fish