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Great! I'll tell all the scammers calling my phone that what they're doing is illegal. That should stop them.

lmilcin 7y ago
That will definitely make them reassess their choices and do the right thing. Hopefully, they will tell their scammer friends to do the same! Problem solved!
DINKDINK 7y ago
I have a similar dim view of "making something illegal to patch a problem". Though I wonder if there are contract structures that require customer activity to be classifiable as "illegal" for a relationship to be terminated. Given how regulated phone infrastructure is, I wouldn't be surprised if there were laws that "guaranteed access" in the name of forcing the expansion of network access but could be weaponized by adversaries / spammers.
rootusrootus 7y ago
In that case, why bother making anything at all illegal? Criminals are just going to be criminals anyway.
- homonculus1 7y ago
  It's a matter of severity and demonstrable willingness to ignore consequences. Scamming and fraud can earn you a spot in prison for a serious length of time, whereas phone spoofing is probably just a fine or probation, IANAL. In general it defies reason that the people who purposely violate existing major laws are going to be dissuaded by tacking regulations onto their methods.
  - rootusrootus 7y ago
    As I recall, certainty of punishment is generally a far more effective deterrent than severity. In any case, what I think the law would really get is leverage against the US-based phone companies who gateway the traffic onto our phone network.
Operyl 7y ago
I think, honestly, it’s more a bureaucratic nightmare thing. “This wasn’t technically illegal, so we’re not going to comply with your extradition request.” Now it is.
athenot 7y ago
It does give you grounds to sue them in small claims court.
Someone1234 7y ago
This is additional legal cover for phone networks, allowing them to block spoofed calls with fake caller IDs in all cases (rather than most). Since the act itself is illegal, blocking cannot be contested.

That will definitely make them reassess their choices and do the right thing. Hopefully, they will tell their scammer friends to do the same! Problem solved!

DINKDINK 7y ago

I have a similar dim view of "making something illegal to patch a problem". Though I wonder if there are contract structures that require customer activity to be classifiable as "illegal" for a relationship to be terminated. Given how regulated phone infrastructure is, I wouldn't be surprised if there were laws that "guaranteed access" in the name of forcing the expansion of network access but could be weaponized by adversaries / spammers.

rootusrootus 7y ago

In that case, why bother making anything at all illegal? Criminals are just going to be criminals anyway.

homonculus1 7y ago
It's a matter of severity and demonstrable willingness to ignore consequences. Scamming and fraud can earn you a spot in prison for a serious length of time, whereas phone spoofing is probably just a fine or probation, IANAL. In general it defies reason that the people who purposely violate existing major laws are going to be dissuaded by tacking regulations onto their methods.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  As I recall, certainty of punishment is generally a far more effective deterrent than severity. In any case, what I think the law would really get is leverage against the US-based phone companies who gateway the traffic onto our phone network.

Operyl 7y ago

I think, honestly, it’s more a bureaucratic nightmare thing. “This wasn’t technically illegal, so we’re not going to comply with your extradition request.” Now it is.

athenot 7y ago

It does give you grounds to sue them in small claims court.

Someone1234 7y ago

This is additional legal cover for phone networks, allowing them to block spoofed calls with fake caller IDs in all cases (rather than most). Since the act itself is illegal, blocking cannot be contested.