[clug] [OT] why "Do Not Call" register?

[Nemo]

This strikes me as one of those suggestions which is the more "correct"
solution to the problem at hand, but assumes that the value of filtering
the caller at the client end is worth the effort of setting it up in
the first place. (how long till enough people have phones/devices wired
into their home phones that can download and filter like this?

I (and I assume 99.9% of anyone who gets unsolicited phonecalls), would 
much rather give my number to a list (it's not really private afterall)
and let the callers take the responsibility and effort to filter my
number. Afterall, if I have to filter, I'm going to alot of effort to
filter 100% anyway.

All that aside, it's nto a *bad* idea - I just think it's more effort
than it's worth for most people. However, I'd suggest that all
telemarketers should be forced to use 'known' number should be from
a pre-assigned pool. (we already have 13xxxx shortcut numbers,
1800 numbers... a similar prefix for telemarketers would be good.
That way you can filter 100% just by eyeballing callerID (which I
suspect is what 99% of people will want), and only need the database
if you want to allow some through. 

(I'd still rather be on the list and not even get the call in the first
place though  :)

.../Nemo



On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:31:55 +1000, Robert Edwards <bob at cs.anu.edu.au> wrote:
> 
> Whilst we are on the topic of "off-topic" posts, I thought I'd
> fly a flag, so to speak.
> 
> Seems to me that the "Do Not Call" register (in the news recently
> because some naughty phone marketer is ignoring it) is set up all
> wrong.
> 
> Seems to me that the Dept. of Communications should require every
> organisation wanting to use unsolicited phonecalls to register their
> numbers onto a database and require them to enable Caller-ID (this
> would include political parties and other currently "exempt"
> organisations). Any organisation found not to comply could then be
> prosecuted.
> 
> I could download the database each week/month, or query it in real-time,
> as calls come in. Then I can choose which unsolicited phonecalls I
> want to take and which I want to time out, or give an engaged tone.
> And I don't need to register my number with some government database.
> 
> So, to get the ball rolling, I guess I need to set up such a database.
> Something along the lines of www.freedb.org or similar. As people with
> caller ID (and not registered on the Do Not Call database) receive
> unsolicited phonecalls, they can enter the number and organisation into
> the database using a web page.
> 
> Once it is up and running, it can be taken to the (then) responsible
> minister and a case made for requiring proper registration of the
> numbers.
> 
> There is some risk that some organisations utilise common numbers,
> and also that some may block caller ID, but it would still be worth it
> as a starting point.
> 
> Anyone got any thoughts on this proposal?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Bob Edwards.
>