25% of 800 numbers controlled by 1 porn provider

[EmmettKelly]

We are a busy nation.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that over the past 13 years, a little-known Philadelphia company called PrimeTel Communications has quietly gained control over nearly a quarter of all the 1-800 numbers in the U.S. and Canada, often by grabbing them the moment they are relinquished by previous users. As of March, it administered more 800 numbers than any other company, including Verizon and AT&T.
And many, if not most, of those 1.7 million numbers appear to be used for one thing: redirecting callers to a phone-sex service.
Dial 1-800-Chicago and instead of reaching a tourism hotline for the Windy City, you will hear a woman offering "one-on-one talk with a nasty girl" for $2.99 per minute. A similar thing happens if you punch in the initial digits of 1-800-Metallica, 1-800-Cadillac, 1-800-Minolta, 1-800-Cameras, 1-800-Worship or 1-800-Whirlpool.

http://hosted2.ap.org/AZMES/140fe8300e9c43bab097b794ca7594c6/Article_2011-04-19-US-Phone-Sex-Kings/id-86d9b8eefa57430b923c2428109a9204

[cleanhippie]

1. And?

No different than web domain name squatters.

[Johonny]

2. pornopoly

[Lucky 13]

3. You know why that really sucks? If you are one number off from who you intended to dial...

... odds are good that you'll hit one of the porn lines.

I dialed Apple care a couple weekends ago, was one number off, and got a porn line. Irritating.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. suuuure...

...riiiiight...

j/k. :rofl:

[Ian David]

5. ...alleging that it is violating federal rules banning toll-free service providers from hoarding...

Over the years, though, PrimeTel has been hit with lawsuits and complaints alleging that it is violating federal rules banning toll-free service providers from hoarding digits. Federal Communications Commission rules say that "routing multiple toll-free numbers to a single toll-free subscriber" is usually considered hoarding.

<snip>

From the late 1980s until around 2005, teenagers who dialed the national hotline used by Teens Teaching AIDS Prevention would reach a call center in Kansas City, Mo., where other youths were waiting to answer questions about the disease. When that program ended, the number was soon routed to one of National A-1's sex lines. But the AIDS hotline number is still publicized by public health groups.

When New York City's Fire Department relinquished its toll-free fire safety hotline a few years ago because of an administrative slip-up, PrimeTel grabbed it the moment it became available. Soon enough, 1-800-FIRETIP was ringing into one of National A-1's phone-sex lines.

The same thing happened to the Cook County Jail in Chicago when it canceled its toll-free inmate information line, and to rape counseling hotlines in Maine and New Mexico.

More:
http://hosted2.ap.org/AZMES/140fe8300e9c43bab097b794ca7594c6/Article_2011-04-19-US-Phone-Sex-Kings/id-86d9b8eefa57430b923c2428109a9204

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Yeah, but who still uses 1-800 numbers?

Well, I guess there's your answer.

[cbdo2007]

7. Damn....another idea I wish I had thought of.

I don't care that someone is doing this, I just wish I had thought of it and had the know-how to pull off something like this to rake in the $$$.

[Ian David]

8. Embattled WI Sen. Randy Hopper Sends Constituents to Adult Chat Line

Embattled WI Sen. Randy Hopper Sends Constituents to Adult Chat Line
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=926897&mesg_id=926897