🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <33ucop$n2i@nic.cerf.net> devildog@nic.cerf.net (Ren Hoek) writes:
> 
>        I just found out that we are all getting screwed and we were not even
>told about it.
> 
>        I just drove cross country to the east coast and back and found out
>that the whole country has a new technology called "Caller-ID". This puts an
>LCD display by your phone and when it rings the Name ad tel number of the
>person calling is displayed. This you can see would totally destroy obscene
>callers, "stalker" calls and add heightened security to computer dialup
>services that could defend against hackers by only answering calls from
>approved phone numbers.
> 
>        I bought a little box when I was in Oklahoma City and plugged it in
>here when I got home. It didn't work and I called Pac Bell to ask why and they
>told me it was because the State Senate's Public Utilities COmmision blocked
>them from selling or advertising that service after big pressure from lobbists
>serving the Bill Collecting and Telemarketing Industries...
> 
>        Hence... You have been screwed as a Californian!

This is a crock. The reason Pac Bell gave (and this was publicly, in
numerous newspaper articles) was very simple.

More than 50% of the phone numbers in Southern California are
unlisted. Pac Bell wanted to make it the default option for unlisted
subscribers that their number would show up on Caller Id unless
they specifically opted-out. The Public Utilities Commission told them
that they would have to make the default for unlisted numbers be
'private' - that is, Caller Id units would display 'private'
for any unlisted number unless that subscriber had specifically enabled
display of their number.

Pac Bell bitched loudly about this, saying that no one would want to
pay for a service which would not work more than 50% of the time.
They just decided not to offer Caller ID at all, and GTE, just a few
days later, said the same thing.

All of this was documented in multiple L.A. Times articles, both in
the main section as well as in the Business section. 

It had nothing to do with pressure from Bill Collectors and Marketing
Services. The person at Pac Bell obviously knew nothing about this,
or they fed you a line of corporate bullshit to put the whole
thing on the PUC when it was Pac Bell's own decision to
not offer the service because they couldn't make any money from
it. (Realize that Caller ID costs them absolutely nothing to
offer. It's already in the switchgear and has been for years. 
It's just pure profit for them.) 

And it sounds like either you're new to California 
or you never read a newspaper and just totally missed 
this battle between Pac Bell and the PUC when it
raged a couple of years ago.

If you had read the specifications for your Caller ID box when
you bought it, you would have seen a notice on the box that
said that Caller ID service is provided by the carrier and
has to be active (and paid for!) before the box would work. Next time, read
the manual - or at least, the outside of the box.

Sorry you wasted your money, but that sounds to me like the REAL
reason you're so upset. 

If you want more info on this, post to 'comp.dcom.telecom', where
the real 'phone phreaks' live.