FW: Anonymous phone calls (was: What is the EFF doing exa...

[jbugden at smtplink.alis.ca]

Subject: FW: Anonymous phone calls (was: What is the EFF doing exactly?)


There is another spin possible on the reasons for replacement of pay phones with
credit card phones. In Canada all new credit card phones are also able to take
phone cards (which are anonymous).

Using a prepaid phone card permits full anonymity. But what it also permits is
metered local calls. This infrastructure would be more familiar to someone from
Europe where metered local calls are the norm. 

Paris made the change to phones that *only* take prepaid phone cards (thus fully
anonymous) obstensibly because people were breaking into phones for the money.
Prepaid phone cards avoid this as well as collection costs.

James

Why should my long distance calling subsidize your local internet access? ;-)

----------
From:   "<pstira at escape.com>" <pstira at escape.com>
Sent:   Friday, September 06, 1996 9:54 AM
To:     unicorn at schloss.li
Cc:     vznuri at netcom.com; cypherpunks at toad.com
Subject:        Re: What is the EFF doing exactly? 

Not just DC and Chicago, I'm afraid.  If anyone around NYC noticed, there 
are less and less payphones, and all new ones installed, just about, are 
those yellow credit card phones.  Not all of them, but it's now one for 
one, at least.