Preserve Caller ID Spoofing!
From BinaryFreedom.INFO
Once again, Congress is trying to over-regulate the telecom industry with their recent bills to ban caller ID spoofing. There are lots of reasons why this is a bad idea, but I'll put the most important two here:
1. It's none of their business who I say I am. If I can write a fake name on an envelope and put it in the mail, then I should be able to spoof my caller ID. We have a right to privacy and anonymity and if we do something illegal while spoofing our caller ID (such as harass people, make bomb threats, etc.) the phone company will still give the authorities accurate information on who was on the line. Spoofing does not make it any harder for law enforcement to track people down (and surprisingly enough, this bill contains an exemption that allows law enforcement to spoof their information. Can you say informants?). If spoofing was really a problem, the phone companies should have built secure systems to begin with instead of whining to congress about it.
2. There are legitimate uses. Many businesses use caller ID spoofing to make sure their names show up correctly on the display. If the name changes, they can change the ID or if multiple people call from the same phone line (IE an office) then they can have their names show up differently (depending on who is calling). What if you telecommute? Wouldn't you want the name of the company to show up when you make phone calls to potential clients? Or what if you use a cell phone?
The bills pages at opencongress can be seen here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s704/show http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h251/show
Here's what you need to know: They are both called "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007". If your congressperson wants it, you can tell them the bill numbers are S.704 and H.R.251 Please take the time to contact your congresscritters on this critical issue. If you don't know the emails/websites of your representatives, go to http://wiki.binaryfreedom.info/index.php/How_to_Contact_Government_Officials or look them up on http://www.opencongress.org If you don't know the phone numbers of your representatives, please call the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representatives. It's two minutes out of your day that can make a big difference, and we've been winning a lot of our battles recently because of your help so stay strong and continue to fight for our binary freedoms!
For a better future, Comrade Ringo Kamens
