wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil (Will Martin) (03/20/90)
>[Moderator's Note: The fallacy in your argument is that charging for a >phone call to reach the radio station lottery is violating rules >pertaining to contests. Contests which have you mail in a coupon or >ticket are not violating the law because the post office requires a stamp >on the envelope. Both the postage stamp and the telephone charge are >simply fees for transporting the message. PT] Don't be so sure about this -- up until fairly recently (mid '60's or early '70's, I believe), a lot of nationwide contests or sweepstakes were illegal in Missouri, and void in this state, because the official State Attorney General legal opinion on the issue was that *the stamp on the envelope* needed to enter the contest was a payment, which made the contest a lottery then illegal under state law. It wasn't until a state constitutional amendment was passed that permitted the state lottery to be begun that this situation changed. I recall quite clearly a lot of otherwise-nationwide contests that had "void in Missouri" [and some other states] in the fine print because of this, and the subject showed up now and then in newspaper advice columns and consumer articles. Some states still have some provisions in their laws that help their citizens in this respect. I think Vermont is one of them; you'll see a note in the fine print of contest rules regarding sending for an entry blank or the like that residents of all states *except Vermont* [or whatever state this really is, if not Vermont] have to send a self-addressed stamped envelope. Residents of Vermont [or whereever] need only send a self-addressed envelope with no stamp on it. Back then, calling Long Distance was still a big deal, so I think there were few, if any, contests that required entry by calling outside a local area. I tend to think that the mindset that called the stamp an illegal lottery payment would view the cost of toll calls the same way. Regards, Will wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil OR wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil
bruner@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu (John Bruner) (03/20/90)
I've been wondering for some time about the 900 numbers which advertise a "TV sports trivia game show" (and similar programs for other subjects). You can win $100 just by making a telephone call, but of course, it's a 900 number and you're billed for the call. Is this really legal? The ads I've heard have never mentioned a method for "playing" the trivia game for free (or for the cost of a stamp). What's the difference between this and, say, playing blackjack by telephone? --John
ecl@mtgzy.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper) (03/21/90)
> >[Moderator's Note: The fallacy in your argument is that charging for a > >phone call to reach the radio station lottery is violating rules > >pertaining to contests. Contests which have you mail in a coupon or > >ticket are not violating the law because the post office requires a stamp > >on the envelope. Both the postage stamp and the telephone charge are > >simply fees for transporting the message. PT] I missed the article that this was ttached to, but the original article was asking about 900 numbers, the cost for which is different from a "regular" call in that the "regular" call is being charged for what the call itself (supposedly) costs, while the 900 number can charge whatever it wants as a money-making proposition. Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 201-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke
gordon@uunet.uu.net (Gordon Burditt) (03/22/90)
[Moderator's Note: My original comments deleted. See above message. PT] States like Missouri aside, isn't the important part WHO GETS THE PAYMENT? When you mail in a sweepstakes entry, none of the postage goes to the contest operator, unless the USPS is running a sweepstakes, which I've never heard of it doing. Entering by a toll call doesn't involve any payment to the sweepstakes operator unless a phone company is running it, OR if the call is to a slime (976 or 900) number. (Note: slimeyness is in the billing method, not the subject matter of the phone call) In the case of a 976 or 900 number where the customer payment is non-zero, it sure looks like a payment to the sweepstakes operator to me, even if the payment just subsidizes the cost of the phone line, and especially if it's more than that. Gordon L. Burditt sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon