Obscene Phone Numbers, 900 Calls, etc.
Douglas W. Martin
To avoid stupid flames, let me first say that although discussing
obscenity, I find the concept of telephone pornography disgusting.
When you don't know who will be calling, arguments regarding "freedom
of speech" are, in my opinion, out the window. Anyway, now to my
questions:
It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter
obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings.
Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has
somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that will
not be assigned, or were such numbers originally given out and then
disconnected due to prank calls. How large is the list of numbers
which are unassigned because of what they spell?
On a related topic, most of the (900) numbers that deal with
phone sex etc, seem to be in the 303 or 844 exchanges. Are these
exchanges assigned to a particular carrier, do they cover a particular
geographic area, or what? Also, does anyone know what is the most
expensive minimum charge for a (900) call? The most expensive call
I've heard about is: "Talk to two (description omitted) girls at the
same time! It's only $5.00 per minute with a little ten-minute
minimum!". Are there any numbers costing more than $50?
Doug Martin mar...@nosc.mil
Stan Brown
W. Martin) writes:
> It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter
> obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings.
> Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653.
Here in Cleveland, a member of a club I used to belong to had the
phone number xxx-3825. He used to tell people that his phone number
was xxx-(youknowtheword). I don't know whether he was assigned that
number at random or asked for it.
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cleveland, Ohio, USA br...@ncoast.org
John Higdon
> On a related topic, most of the (900) numbers that deal with
> phone sex etc, seem to be in the 303 or 844 exchanges.
Yes and no. The three Pac*Bell 900 exchanges are 303 ("harmful
matter"), 844 (recorded general audience), and 505 (live talk, general
audience). If you are hearing "porn" on 844, it is a violation of
Pac*Bell policies and eventually the operator of the service will get
busted. Pac*Bell regularly polices the services by calling them (and
actually paying for the call!) and checking out the program.
> Are these exchanges assigned to a particular carrier, do they cover
> a particular geographic area, or what?
900 prefixes are assigned to carriers and are 'area non-specific'. In
other words, for carriers other than Pac*Bell, you have no way of
knowing where the machine is that is handling your call. There are
service centers in major cities all over the country. Pac*Bell 900
numbers terminate in certain wire centers in each California LATA. For
instance, in the San Francisco LATA, all Pac*Bell 900 services are
located in the general area of the financial district (served out of
the Bush/Pine CO).
> Also, does anyone know what is the most
> expensive minimum charge for a (900) call? The most expensive call
> I've heard about is: "Talk to two (description omitted) girls at the
> same time! It's only $5.00 per minute with a little ten-minute
> minimum!". Are there any numbers costing more than $50?
With other carriers, the sky is the limit. With Pac*Bell, there is a
MAXIMUM charge of $20 per call. This means that if the caller is on
past the time where he has run up a $20 cost, it is to the IPs benefit
to cut him off; Pac*Bell will not remit more than $20 for the call.
Bash 900 while you can. Many of the avant garde are looking to escape
the tyranny of 900 regulations and enter the brave new world of
"direct billing". While many of you believe that the only sleaze is on
the part of the providers themselves, the truth is that carriers,
including Pac*Bell, have not hesitated to rip off providers. The
Telesphere case is legendary and there are others, including the
almighty AT&T who are playing games aplenty with providers.
AT&T has actually claimed to one provider that his calls for one month
were 100% uncollectable! When this service was placed on an
alternative billing system, uncollectables ran less than 15%. Most
carriers pull this nonsense and then offer the provider nothing in
terms of accounting or detail. Many legitimate providers have had it
up to here with the ultra-sleazy tactics of the most-holy telephone
carriers and will soon take their business elsewhere.
The end of 900 service may not be far off. But its disappearance will
not be the result of government edicts, IEC righteousness, or even
public pressure. It will go away because the information industry is
tired of being taken to the cleaners by the nation's telephone
companies. If those companies want to get into the information
business, then they can have the 900 numbers all to themselves. The
REAL information industry will have moved on.
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
jo...@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
[Moderator's Note: John, I believe that 900-999 is used for the really
raunchy sex stuff from Telesphere. Is that correct? PAT]
Floyd Davidson
W. Martin) writes:
> To avoid stupid flames, let me first say that although discussing
> obscenity, I find the concept of telephone pornography disgusting.
> When you don't know who will be calling, arguments regarding "freedom
> of speech" are, in my opinion, out the window. Anyway, now to my
> questions:
> It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter
> obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings.
> Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has
> somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that will
"The phone company" does not exist as any single entity. There are
many many of them, and all are different.
> not be assigned, or were such numbers originally given out and then
> disconnected due to prank calls. How large is the list of numbers
> which are unassigned because of what they spell?
My only experience in this area came about just the other day. And it
would suggest that the list is very very small. At least in this one
case.
I offer no opinion on this, just the facts ... (grins and giggles ...)
Alascom just recently installed an earth station at some kind of a new
community that I understand is more or less a religious commune, named
Dry Creek. (Located half way from Fairbanks to the Canadian border.)
There is no way to tell just how long this will last, but at the
moment the telephone number for the Alascom ES in Dry Creek, AK is ...
907-323-3825.
I'm not sure who the local phone company there is.
Floyd L. Davidson fl...@ims.alaska.edu Salcha, Alaska
David Lesher
> somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that
Strange you should mention that. For many years, the owner of a
classical music station in a major market had one of those numbers. He
was not known for his pleasant demeanor and the staff would sometimes
mutter about how appropriate the assignment was.
The chief engineer of another classical station elsewhere had
"TWINKLE" for a home phone. Signs in the station said things like:
This is the FM OFF THE AIR alarm.
Pushing this button silences the alarm.
It does NOT restore the transmitter to the air.
This outrage must NOT be allowed to continue.
If you can not get it up - TWINKLE ASAP!
Luckily, I got someone in the know to explain it to me ;_]
Ed Greenberg
> It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter
> obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings.
> Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has
Perhaps your telco did something with the 5000 group in the 382 area,
but who really knows for sure.
Etak, Inc., in Menlo Park CA has a main number that is 328-ETAK. Never
mind that it also spells FAT-ETAK, and perhaps fat something else. It
was amusing once, but no longer.
> On a related topic, most of the (900) numbers that deal with phone
> sex etc, seem to be in the 303 or 844 exchanges. Are these exchanges
> assigned to a particular carrier, do they cover a particular
> geographic area, or what? 900-303 and 844 numbers belong to Pacific
> Bell and are indeed reserved for adult programming.
900-303 and 844 numbers belong to Pacific Bell and are indeed reserved
for adult programming.
Ed Greenberg | Home: +1 408 283 0184 | e...@netcom.com
P. O. Box 28618 | Work: +1 408 764 5305 | DoD#: 0357
San Jose, CA 95159 | Fax: +1 408 764 5003 | KM6CG (ex WB2GOH)
Chip Olson
comp.dcom.telecom:
> It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter
> obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings.
> Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653. I wonder, has
> somebody at the phone company figured out a list of numbers that will
> not be assigned, or were such numbers originally given out and then
> disconnected due to prank calls.
Well, a friend of mine awhile back requested, and got, the number
739-9636. When I mentioned what his number spelled to a mutual
friend, she got this evil look in her eye, dialed his number and said
in a stereotypically ditzy voice, "Do you know your phone number
spells SEXY MEN? <giggle>" and hung up.
Chip Olson
ols...@husc.harvard.edu | ceo...@ldbvax.lotus.com | c...@gnu.ai.mit.edu
Toby Nixon
W. Martin) writes:
> It seems that in most area codes, numbers which spell seven-letter
> obsceneties are routed to intercept recordings.
> Examples of such numbers are: 382-5968 or 277-4653.
Just out of curiousity, I decided to try both of these numbers, in the
404 area code. They both rang through to real human beings! I asked
them to excuse the ring (as though I had called a wrong number); they
didn't get upset or anything. I wonder if these folks even know what
their numbers spell?
Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404
P.O. Box 105203 | BBS +1-404-446-6336 AT&T !tnixon
Atlanta, Georgia 30348 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon Fido 1:114/15
USA | Internet tni...@hayes.com