From: chelf@lunatix.uucp (Chad Helfenberger)
Subject: Re: Caller ID block?
Organization: Lexington Public Access Unix. -KY- (606) 255-9121
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 06:59:08 GMT

In article <Bzp0sr.Dxu@ns1.nodak.edu> csmith@plains.NoDak.edu (Carl Smith) writes:
>>Everyone lived for a long time without Caller ID, and now it's like 
>>it's a basic human right or something.
>
>Well, I don't think that caller id is a basic human right, but I have
>been arguing in favor of it because of the people who seem to think that
>it is some kind of basic human right to NOT have caller ID.

Well, it's a basic human right to have privacy.  I assume the entire purpose 
of this conversation is to determine the nuances and flaws of Caller ID.  
All I'm saying is that the phone sys. need not send the number out, as the 
*default*..  I just got into the conversation about the black box (smart 
cnid box) because I thought it was an interesting topic.

>Well, I think you are very lucky then.  I have dealt with quite a few 
>different telemarketing firms and on the repeat callers I have never
>been able to get rid of them on the first call, no matter how much I 
>rant and rave.  I ask that they do not call anymore and they say 

[transcript of MCI harassment deleted]

Perhaps I am lucky.  I don't know.  As far as I'm concerned, this particular 
topic is pretty much talked-to-death.

>They haven't called back since, in at least a year.  But it took me a year
>to get someone that would actually listen to me, rather than just hang up
>when they figured out that I wasn't going to listen to the sales pitch.
>
>Of course, I have learned from the above, and would never again let a
>similar situation drag out that long.  Now I would call the phone company
>and complain about it after the second or third call.
>
>BUT, if I had caller ID I could put them in a kill list after the first
>call and never have to deal with it again.   And furthermore, having caller
>ID log the numbers would give me better evidence against the offending 
>repeat callers if I did decide to take action.

You can also take many other steps to prevent your telephone number (and 
other information) from being distributed.  Preventing them from getting 
your number in the first place is the best way to prevent them from calling 
you.  Not taking steps after the fact.  This entire topic is analogous to 
several problems America is having dealing with various things; a good 
example is unwanted pregnancies.  Instead of teaching to abstain or to get 
an abortion when the time comes, why not teach people how to prevent 
fertilizing the egg in the first place?

>In short, it is not as simple to get rid of telemarketers as you make it
>out to be in your paragraph above.

Maybe not for you.

[phone ringing/relevance discussion deleted]

[memory consideration calculations also deleted]

>>>If you havn't noticed most every business in this country already has this
>>>method in place. They're called receptionists. All I want at home is a
>>>computer based receptionist.
>>
>>One big difference.  Receptionists make notes of who calls.  CNID doesn't.  
>>Why?  Because CNID is not an AI box which converses with whoever calls.
>
>So, the receptionist can actually ask the name of the person on the
>other end of the line, whereas CNID just gives you the phone the call
>was placed from.  MOST of the time they are identical anyway.

There's no substitute for the real thing (ie, voice communications).

>>>BTW you can laugh away but if/when I get this box built then if you try to call
>>>me you'll get an answering machine and my phone won't ring at all. And that
>>>my friend would make this "Big Brother" extremely happy ;-).
>>
>>I won't laugh when you build it.  I wish you luck.  However, I think that 
>>this little black box is just a way to avoid telemarketers.  

>"Just a way?"  It is a very convenient way to avoid telemarketers, and other
>undesireables.

What's more convenient than dialing *67 before calling someone you don't 
want to have your number, and writing 'DO NOT SELL MY NAME/PHONE # TO 
OTHERS' on any mail you happen to send off?


-- 
Chad Helfenberger
(chelf@lunatix.uucp) 
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