Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 16:08:14 -0400
From: Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Phone Numbers
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Mike B. wrote:
> At 09:23 AM 5/3/05 -0400, Steve Smith wrote:
>
>>Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>
>>Mike, anybody who wants your unlisted phone number has it.  Last time I
>>checked, all it took was $20 to the right phone company employee or a
>>bit of social engineering.
>
> Everyone who wants it doesn't have it.  Many mass marketers would love to
> have it in their databases, but don't.  Paying $20 to a crooked phone
> company employee isn't cost effective for that purpose...but doing a web
> search is.

Mass marketers don't care.  You're not that valuable.  In any case, all
you have to do is register your number at the National Do- Not- Call
List at <https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx>.  (Note -- yes, you
should register your cellphone.  Cellphone marketing is coming soon.)

Homicidal ex- lovers, angry creditors, and the Bavarian Illuminati can
get your number (and address, and car tags, and Social Security number,
and mother's maiden name, and fishing license number) any time they
like.  (Magic word -- ChoicePoint
<http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/17/technology/personaltech/choicepoint/>)

>
> I'm glad to hear that they haven't started doing that yet...at least as of
> the late 90's when you ran your "test".  I know for a fact that they do
> search web pages for email addresses though, so it's good that Keith didn't
> include that information in the Journals unless asked to do so (opt-in).
> The company I work for has an anti-SPAM product, and the developer
> intentionally listed some target addresses on web pages to get them picked
> up by SPAMmers, so they would send him SPAM that he could analyze and put
> defenses against into our product.  He gets hundreds of SPAMs a day as a
> result.
>
> -- Mike B.

And how many phone calls?  Phone marketing ain't free, and spam very
nearly is.

--
Steve Smith                                    sgs at aginc dot net
Agincourt Computing                            http://www.aginc.net
"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."