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Telemarketers Raise Fears About Do-Not-Call List

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Wednesday March 19, 2008
The telemarketing community is raising unsubstantiated fears about the prospect of hackers registering thousands of phone numbers of people who otherwise want to receive telemarketing calls.  It seems to me that it is more likely that millions of Canadians will knowlingly race to list their phone numbers, only to find that most calls keep coming due to the number of exceptions in the legislation.
Comments (11)add comment

Ole Juul said:

not loathed
"The Do Not Call List may be especially vulnerable to cyber attacks because the telemarketing industry is loathed by many consumers, Mr. Chase added."

He obviously comes from a different planet and has no idea about the state of humanity. The telemarketing industry is not "loathed" ... not even close ... it is HATED!

I get several calls per 24 hour period. Three times a week I get woken up. I try to be a peaceful person, but when it comes to telemarketing, I'm in favour of the death penalty.

March 21, 2008

Hanson said:

...
"The telemarketing community is raising unsubstantiated fears about the prospect of hackers registering thousands of phone numbers of people".

What's funny is that if somebody had a hack that added my phone number to the list permanently, and robustly (no exclusions for any group), it would be a hack worth paying for. It might even become my all time favorite software. Let me buy this, please!
March 21, 2008

Tony Toews said:

...
What about those calls I get every few days from American phone numbers? The ones that give you a record spiel and then ask you to press 1.

Are those covered by the legislation? I can't enter my Canadian phone number in the FCC database. As VOIP and overseas gets cheaper what about callers from other continents?
March 22, 2008

OGaskin said:

Different Planets
Re: not loathed

Ole Juul, on which planet is loathe not even close to hate?
What exactly is your definition of loathe?
March 22, 2008

Hanson said:

...
I find myself able to both loathe and hate them :-)
March 22, 2008

Charles said:

...
You know that nobody would have thought about doing that, simply because there's no direct gain for a hacker to enter the phonebook in a Do-not-call registry. There would be a gain to be made for a hacker to code a piece of software that would keep a number permanently in the do not call list (as suggested above, by the way, I'd be willing to pay too).

Of course, now that the issue has been raised and by the telemarketers themselves, they've elevated that kind of hack to the level of a pleasant joke. Now someone is bound to do it just so they can smile and get back at the telemarketers they so loathe/hate.
March 23, 2008

telemarketing whores said:

pablo
Its about f**g time!!!!!!
March 27, 2008

telemarketing whores said:

pablo
Its about f**g time!!!!!!
ty pwm
March 27, 2008

BC said:

...
Rather than an opt-out list, perhaps an opt-IN list should be created for those few who actually want to receive these calls with the rest of us placed automatically on the do not call list.

It would certainly be a much smaller and easier to maintain database as I imagine there would only be about 5 numbers on it. I don't know anyone who WANTS to be contacted.

It should also be illegal for companies to spoof the caller id information. Many times I have tried to call a company back to ask to be removed only to find that the number listed on CID was false and goes to an out of service number.

Our phones are for OUR needs not the telemarketers.
I wish I could charge them for my time per call.

Thanks for your efforts on our behalf Michael.
March 28, 2008

kerwin said:

telemarketers
i just prank them when they call Telemarketers
April 16, 2008

Wayne said:

Do not Call List manitoba
Sorry to all, but the tele-marketers have beat the system. Had to change my number after 30 years and 10 calls a day for 3 months. Yes, I put my number on the do not call list. Yes, I dialled *57 to trace the calls for harassment charges, and yes I tried to block the culprits. But, they have beaten the system by no number being shown, can't be traced , etc. My advice, demand a new number and make it unlisted. It can kill you if you are in the middle of a family health crisis. Surely something can be done, or not?
December 11, 2008

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