900 Numbers
Channel: HouseResourceOrg
Date: 2011-06-29

900 Numbers - 17427-1-DVD - House Energy and Commerce - 1991-02-28 - House Energy and Commerce Committee. Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance. The subcommittee heard testimony on H.R. 328, the Telephone Consumer Assistance Act, which would regulate the use of pay-per-minute "900" telephone numbers by U.S. companies. A "900" number, the use of which has grown considerably in the past few years, allows a company to charge a per-minute fee, charged to the caller's phone bill but received by the company, for access to a particular phone line. Prominent uses for "900" numbers include sports scores and party lines. Companies have been accused of abusing the "900" number format by failing to provide valuable, unique information for the more expensive charge or for failing to provide services promised in the phone message. Rep. Gordon, sponsor of the bill, argued in favor of "900" number regulation by giving examples of "900" number abuse both by customers and businesses. Unauthorized use of the service by minors has resulted in thousands of dollars in bills being charged to the unsuspecting parents after the calls were made. Speakers presented several means of regulation of "900" numbers, including access codes available through correspondence with the company, and blocking all "900" numbers from a household through the phone company. Opponents of the legislation cited existing safeguards for consumers including age warnings and posting of charges in ads for the services. Mr. Pace argued that legislation on "900" numbers is unnecessary, since existing fraud legislation would apply to "900" numbers run by scam artists, and legislation concerning legal "900" numbers would amount to legislating speech. Filmed by C-SPAN. Non-commercial use only. For more information, see http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/17427-1