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Similar ideas were once floated to stop email spam problems. But it's untenable. First, think of the impact it would have on lower-income people. Second, thi
by jawns 8y ago
Similar ideas were once floated to stop email spam problems.
But it's untenable.
First, think of the impact it would have on lower-income people.
Second, think of how people might "game" the system. Anytime anyone is unhappy with a caller for any reason, they can falsely report the caller for spam.
Third, think of what position this puts phone companies in. They then have to be the arbiter of whether every reported call is actually spam. They'd probably have to set up an appeals process. It would be a nightmare, logistically.
Fourth, who would get to decide which charity the bond goes to? That decision alone is a hornet's nest.
- voidmain 8y agoI've always wished for this in every communication medium. Charging someone for calling you would also block them permanently, so almost no one is going to do this to their friends just to mess with them. There should be no appeal: if someone wants to charge every caller, that's totally fine. People will stop calling them pretty fast. Likewise I would let the callee choose the charity, or even keep the money. All that matters is that if you are calling someone who wants your calls you won't be charged, and if you aren't, you should be. If you aren't sure, you pay your money and take your chances that you are in fact imposing on someone else. I can't see how this would hurt anyone of any socio economic level other than spammers. If you are calling someone who doesn't want your calls, you are a spammer.
- cameldrv 8y agoIt's perfectly tenable. The phone company can pick a list of broadly acceptable charities, but hell, it's fine with me if the phone company just keeps the money. The main thing is that the caller pays. The phone company is not the arbiter, whoever receives the call is, and their decision is final. This shouldn't have any impact on low-income people unless they're calling a bunch of people who don't want to hear from them. There's no need for an appeals process, it's only $1, and it has to be reported within 10 minutes. The caller would receive a text message that they had been charged for the call, and either has to stop calling people who don't want to hear from them or pay for each call.