We have found two smoking guns in the robocall case.
One proves conclusively that there is intent to deceive. The other strongly supports (though does not prove conclusively -yet!) that the Rs are behind this. Details on the flipside.
Meanwhile, we need your help in collecting as many examples as possible. Even if we don't make news headlines with this on Tuesday, we will need this information for when the (newly Democratic) House starts investigating election-tampering.
Smoking Gun #1: Tampering with Caller ID in order to mislead.Quick summary:
We have records of robocalls where the caller ID says 000-000-0000. For technical reasons explained below, this can only be done by a deliberate action on the part of the telemarketer. This is misleading because it fails to accurately identify the caller, thereby allowing the recorded message to give the caller the impression that this is a valid call from a Democratic candidate.
In detail:Companies with high call volumes can obtain a type of telco trunk circuit called a PRI, "Primary Rate ISDN." PRI circuits are commonly used in PBX installations (company switchboards); many of our clients have them and I have personally configured them in the PBX equipment.
One characteristic of a PRI circuit is that it enables you to set the outbound caller ID to any number you choose. This has legitimate applications, for example as follows: XYZ Company's main number is 555-1000, but their customer service number is 555-1100. They set the extensions in the customer service department to send 555-1100 as outbound caller ID. A customer calls their main number, asks for customer service, and leaves a message. The company calls back the next day. The caller ID shows the correct direct-dial number for the customer service department: 555-1100, so the customer can reach them more easily.
However, when programming the equipment, you can set any outbound caller ID number you like, and it will be transmitted to people you call from extensions in the system. Interestingly, you cannot set the name: that is provided by the telco's own database. What happens is, the PBX sends the caller ID number you have chosen, and the telco's central office switch queries the database to find the name that belongs to that number, and then sends both the name and number to the called party. Thus if I programmed the PBX to send 202-456-4141, you would see that number plus the name White House on your caller ID display. Herein lies the potential for all manner of mischief.
If you do not program a number, i.e. if you leave the program field in the system completely blank, the telco will send your "main billing telephone number" to called parties. Back to our fictitious example, if XYZ Company's telephone account was under the number 555-1321, which was their accounting department, then all calls from the company's switchboard would show that number, and customers who called back the displayed number would end up swamping the folks in Accounting.
Just to be sure you understand this point: If you do not choose to put a telephone number in the program field, and leave that field blank, the phone company will send the phone number that is listed as your account number for your phone bill. Thus, if a telemarketer leaves this program field blank, called parties will receive the telemarketing company's main billing number, which will be one of their corporate numbers.
If a telemarketing company wishes to disguise their identity, they will need to put a different phone number in that program field in their machine. However if they put in a "real" phone number, chances are it belongs to someone, and that person or company's name will also be sent to called parties. Thus, sneaky telemarketers use 10-digit numbers that cannot possibly be phone numbers. In the USA, any area code starting with a 1 or 0, and any exchange prefix starting with a 1 or 0, is not a legitimate telephone number. For example, 212-555-2368 is legit, but an area code 012 or 112 is not, and an exchange prefix 055 or 155 is not.
Thus, the string 000-000-0000 which we have seen reported as a caller ID for some of these robocalls, is not a legitimate telephone number, and it cannot bring up a name in a telco database.
By now you probably understand where this is going: the ONLY way that the number 000-000-0000 can show up on your caller ID, is if someone deliberately programmed it into their system. And the only reason someone would program an illegitimate telephone number into their system is to disguise their actual identity by preventing their main billing telephone number or some other legitimate number they chose, from being sent as the default setting.
Thus, the very fact that 000-000-0000 is showing up, is proof positive, with absolute certainty, that someone made a deliberate decision to disguise their actual telephone number. And the only reason to do that on political campaign calls is to mislead voters.
Smoking Gun #2: playing both sides!Quick summary:
We have found a phone number that has been used to make calls apparently for Democratic candidates and for Republican candidates. But the profile of the calls demonstrates clearly that they are almost certainly working for the Republicans.
In detail:
We also received information from more than one person, saying that their caller ID showed a specific telephone number. In the interests of continuing to collect information on this, I'm not going to reveal that number here. However, a wee bit of sleuthing disclosed the following:
The phone number is in the Hanford California telephone exchange, near Fresno.
The phone number belongs to a telemarketing company.
And the telemarketing company apparently plays both sides: making calls for Republicans and Democrats alike. However, as anyone in advertising knows, it's unethical to handle accounts from two or more mutually competing entities, for example Ford and Chevy, or Democratic and Republican candidates. A list of calls received from that phone number includes calls from:
Ted Kennedy for Senate (three different people receiving this call),
The Republican Party of Iowa,
Republican Congressional Campaign Committee,
local political candidate,
political solicitation,
no name,
local political party,
Jim Nussie for Governor (Republican, Iowa),
Jim Gerlach (Republican candidate for Representative, Pennsylvania),
Iowa Farm Bureau
unknown,
Credit Card interest rate solicitation,
and last but not least, Ben Downing for State Senate (a Massachusetts Democrat)
Apparently calls "from Ted Kennedy" were received by people in New York and Virginia. Yes, in Virginia! Clearly, for Democrats to broadcast Ted Kennedy in Virginia is about as popular as Republicans broadcasting Mark Foley anywhere in the US.
People also report receiving generic telemarketing spam calls from the same telephone number, for credit card offers and so on. Some of these are abusive: In at least one case, a live telemarketer from this number called somone a "slut" for challenging their call.
People report receiving up to 20 calls at a time from this telephone number.
Why I think this is a Republican operation: First, Kennedy calling voters in Virginia is a dead giveaway. Second, no reputable marketing firm handles mutually competing clients, and no client with any brains at all will knowingly hire a firm that handles a competitor's account. Third, there have been no complaints about misleading phone calls directed against Republicans, only directed against Democrats.
This stuff can of course be verified; and at least one reporter is calling Ted Kennedy's office to ask if they've hired any telemarketers in the Fresno or Hanford California areas. If TK's people say No, and are willing to swear to it, the proverbial jig is up.
Item #3: We need your help; what you can do.If you have received these calls, we need your information for a technical analysis. Debra is handling the press and I'm doing tech, so if you've emailed her, you also need to email us about this (address below).
What we need is very specific, as follows:
Your userID on Kos, and your email address so we can reach you. Your first name. Your area code and prefix (for example if your phone number is 212-555-2368, what we want you to send us is "my area code is 212 and my prefix is 555"). Also we need the name of your local telephone company, i.e. the company from which you get your phone service.
Then include the date, time, and caller ID display information for EVERY robocall or political spam call you have received. Spell out the name of the month, do not use numerals for the month because we have examples for October. For example, "November 6, 2006: call from 559-555-9876 at 7:15PM, and again at 7:25PM, and again at 7:35PM."
For each call you list, describe what happened, for example whether you answered live or not, whether your answering machine or voicemail box recorded the call, etc. Tell us whether you have an answering machine (a little box that sits next to your phone and records messages) or a voicemail box, and whether the voicemail box is in a voicemail system on a company PBX or a telco central office (if voicemail service is on your phone bill, the mailbox is in the telco central office). We are also interested in calls where there were unusual pauses or where a message was cut off after one or two sentences. Tell us whether the caller's voice sounded as if male, female, or unclear; and if they had any identifyable regional or national accent.
If you have recordings of these calls, for example on your voicemail system or answering machine, SAVE those recordings. Find a way to turn them into .wav files (or other file types that can be read on MacOSX systems), and either attach them to your first email to us, or send them in a subsequent email and let us know the recordings relate to an earlier email.
Where to send email: robocalls@coopdigital.com
This is an email address we have established specifically for this purpose, and we may eventually have to take it down if it gets spammed. However we will do our best to contact you if this occurs. We cannot guarantee we will respond to every email, because we may get swamped and time is of the essence getting the analysis done.
NOTE: SAVE those recordings on your original voicemail or answering system, or have them copied to cassette tape and then get your document and the tape notarised by a notary public. At present we are only conducting a technical analysis of these calls. At some point in the future, there may be a legal investigation either by Congress or by an appropriate prosecuting authority, and at that point your recording could provide important evidence if it is properly preserved according to standards for evidence handling. If you have any question about procedures for preserving this as evidence, talk to an attorney and get a legal opinion. I am only a geek, not an attorney, and we are only handling technical issues here.
What we hope to accomplish with our analysis: Pin down as far as possible who is making these calls. Attempt to identify who is speaking on these recordings, or at least show connections between persons speaking and messages. Determine if there are any patterns to these calls. Determine what equipment is being used. Assess issues related to pauses, silences, and cutoffs. Etc. With this information I can also offer to provide expert witness testimony if that becomes necessary. And of course the press will have something concrete to work with.
Again for emphasis: Even if this comes too late to make headlines in time to inform voters what is going on, we can use this information for investigations after the election. That is why it's still important to get the information while it's fresh.
Whether or not we can stop the illegal acts from occurring today, we can certainly work to get them investigated and prosecuted tomorrow, and to toughen the laws against this sort of thing for the future.
2008 after all is not far away, and we have only begun to fight!
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UPDATE #1: Washington Post Story!.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110601103.html Pass it on....
And if you don't have a dKos username, then just point them to your username over here at DU.
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