telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (08/23/89)
[Condensed from an article in the Chicago Tribune, August 22, 1989] Consider just a few of the lines operating now -- Freddy Pumpkin 900-909-1234 Slime Line 900-909-2233 Paula Abdul 900-909-1800 The Hulk 900-909-5855 Club Teen 900-909-0100 World Weather 900-321-1212 Samantha Fox 900-909-FOXX NBC Soap Line 900-650-4622 Romantic Confessions 900-909-4500 Ken Patera 900-646-SLAM Stock Market Forecast 900-234-1100 Womens Secrets 900-909-1133 Did you ever wonder who would be on the other end if you dialed one of those phone numbers so luridly advertised on cable TV? But have you been too shy or put off by the price -- often $2 for the first minute and 45 cents per minute thereafter to call? On 900-909-1133 "Women's Secret Confessions" you get a scratchy recording of several women who earlier consented to have their phone calls taped for later listening by strangers. These women sound more like Roseanne Barr than Joan Collins. One says, "My confession is for the last six years I've been in love with my husband's brother. I have been married for seven years. Both marriages involve two children.....I know he cares for me and I care for him. But by us both being married, and both of them being brothers....I don't know what to do. I have feelings for both of them. Could someone help me? Please call in and let me know." Then there is 900-909-4500, known as "True Romantic Confessions". Another tape, another voice, this time it is Joe Sixpack speaking: "Hello, my name is Jerry and I play for a highly competitive softball team in central Illinois. And I'm having a hard time finding young ladies and [sic] everything that like softball and everything [sic] and the outdoors. And I am into snowmobiling because I have two of them. And I am into boating because I have one. And its really hard because I'm from a small community and everything and its just hard to find anybody. So could anybody please call?" "The Samantha Fox Line" at 900-909-FOXX features the pop singer in her streetwise Cockney. The tape is already halfway through but she assures us, "....if you've not 'eard all the message, stay on the line, it will repeat from the beginning.... " All these tapes are mobius loops which go 'round and 'round repeatedly, so you can listen as long as desired, and not coincidentally run up your phone bill even more in the process. "....'ere I am now. Jive [Records] signed me up about three years ago and my first big 'it single was 'Touch Me'. It was number three in America and number one in 17 other European countries," she says, proving that if she is anything at all, she is ignorant of geography. And this is where dialing 900 can land you. If there were a box office, you'd ask for your money back. But it is around such messages that a fast- growing, complex and controversial segment in the phone industry has sprung up. It did not exist until 1980, when AT&T invented it to allow NBC News to poll viewers on who won the Reagan-Carter presidential debate. They picked the Californian, and both a new presidency and a new phone concept were launched. According to Bruce Kushnick, a New York consultant who tracks 900 numbers, telcos and the people who provide the programming will rake in about $500 million this year. By 1992, he estimates the take will be more than $2 billion per year. 900 numbers have something of a seamy reputation in the public's mind. There are a large number of 'adult programming' numbers, featuring both taped messages appealing to every sexual fantasy imaginable, as well as live, interactive 'chat' lines, where persons of similar pursuasion can meet and exchange phone numbers for late night direct contact purposes. The sexually- oriented 'chats' seem to mostly be located on the 999 exchange, at rates that typically begin at $1.95 - $2.95 for the first minute, and about a dollar a minute thereafter. Many of these services offer a guarenteed connection by proclaiming, "...try our free number first! 312-606-xxxx. If the line is busy, we guarentee someone is waiting when you dial 900-999-xxxx." In other words, someone gets a free connection in exchange for functioning like a shill to bring others to the pay-to-play conference line. There are many, many users of 900 numbers. Last year, Fox TV used a 900 poll to allow viewers to choose the ending of a special "Married....With Children" episode. In a "Saturday Night Live" skit, Eddie Murphy had viewers voice their opinion over whether to execute Larry the Lobster by throwing him in a pot of boiling water or let him live. Calls from around the country via the 900 lines voted for mercy, and the financial take for both AT&T and the Saturday Night Live people was quite substantial. Steve Cowthon of Cable News Network points out that hardly a night goes by when CNN doesn't run one of its non-scientific polls on subjects such as the hostages in Iran or what to do with General Noriega. MTV first used 900 service during Bruce Srpingsteen weekend in 1987, and they received 886,000 calls in two days. Flushed with that kind of success, MTV ran a contest in March, 1989 to give away Bon Jovi's childhood home in Sayerville, NY. Within *15 minutes*, 300,000 calls had been received. Within *35 minutes* the tally was above 600,000 calls. Many 900 lines are just blatant advertising designed to sell something and get the caller to pay for listening to the advertisement. For instance, a 1969 nostalgia line has Wolfman Jack urging callers to "check out the 1969 video at your local video store..." Many of these messages are deliberatly designed to attract children, and encourage them to call without their parent's knowledge or consent. Some phone companies, including Illinois Bell, have dropped the chat lines they were running because of trouble which ensued when children and others gave out their home address or phone number to the stranger on the other end. Most of the telcos have discontinued offering billing service to the sexually oriented lines, effectively deep-sixing many of them; however those services have begun to recover, and now frequently use 800 service; requiring the caller to punch in his credit card number at the start of the call, and wait a couple seconds for verification before being connected to the conversations and/or taped message in progress. Most telcos now also offer blocking and will implement it free of charge on request. They will also write off (and charge back to the vendor) any charges on the phone bill the *first time* someone complains that they did not know what they were reaching, or the cost involved. One prominent 900 service provider, headquartered in the Chicago area is Telesphere International. According to Denny Houlihan, manager of 900 services for the company, they don't carry lines that naturally appeal to children. He said they avoid them due to the difficulty in collecting from parents who found out after the fact what their (unsupervised) children had been doing in their spare time. [Condensed from an article in the Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, August 22, 1988 by John Barrat.]
pf@m2.csc.ti.com (Paul Fuqua) (08/24/89)
In recent weeks I've seen a couple of new variations on the 900-number theme:
1. On one of the local Spanish-language TV stations, a new magazine is
advertising "free" subscriptions if you call their 900 number (which is
$2 or $3 per minute, I forget). In typical misleading style, the
commercial closes with a five-second shot of the word "Gratis" positioned
right above the 900 number.
2. Some group is using a 900 number to raise money to help clean up the
Alaska oil spill (or so they claim). The number doesn't do anything, but
the $10 collected per call "is a charitable contribution made through
your phone bill" or something like that.
By the way, about that "Women's Secret Confessions" line: some months back,
there was *another* 900 number which one could call to *make* those
confessions.
Paul Fuqua pf@csc.ti.com
{smu,texsun,cs.utexas.edu,rice}!ti-csl!pf
Texas Instruments Computer Science Center
PO Box 655474 MS 238, Dallas, Texas 75265lmg@hoqax.att.com (Lawrence M Geary) (08/24/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0319m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: >MTV first used 900 service during Bruce Springsteen weekend in 1987, and >they received 886,000 calls in two days. Flushed with that kind of success, >MTV ran a contest in March, 1989 to give away Bon Jovi's childhood home >in Sayerville, NY. Within *15 minutes*, 300,000 calls had been received. ^^ I wonder how many calls they would have received if the callers had been told the truth: Sayreville is in New Jersey. I know. I live there. --Larry -- lmg@hoqax.att.com Think globally ... Post locally att!hoqax!lmg
arisco%cadillac.cad.mcc.com@mcc.com (John Arisco) (08/25/89)
Last night, I was watching Nickolodeon and I observed what has to be the sleaziest 900 number scheme I've seen so far. The service was called something like "Kid's Talk Line", and it encouraged kids to call this number to speak with other kids (or maybe to hear recordings) about problems faced in growing up. It implied that counselors would be online occasionally to give advice about things like divorce, family violence, substance abuse and sex. From what I saw, it looks very similar to the "Women's Private Confessions", since most of the examples shown were kids (mostly confused, upset, tearful kids) pouring out their hearts on the telephone. I would be the first to say that every city in the US needs to have telephone counselling available for kids (and anybody else who needs help), but to take advantage of this situation is the ultimate in scummy tactics. Of course, the commercial ended with "Kids, get your parent's permission before calling." -- John Arisco, MCC CAD Program | ARPA: arisco@mcc.com | Phone: [512] 338-3576 Box 200195, Austin, TX 78720 | UUCP: ...!cs.utexas.edu!milano!cadillac!arisco
stealth@caen.engin.umich.edu (Mike Peltier) (08/30/89)
arisco%cadillac.cad.mcc.com@mcc.com (John Arisco) writes: > Last night, I was watching Nickolodeon and I observed what has to be >the sleaziest 900 number scheme I've seen so far. The service was called >something like "Kid's Talk Line", and it encouraged kids to call this number >to speak with other kids (or maybe to hear recordings) about problems faced in >growing up. Nickelodeon is the scourge of the earth. It has so much power to shape the minds of the youth of America, and yet it presents so much materialistic, trendy, consumerist garbage that it's hardly tolerable... To think, it used to be a good channel. If I had the power to either severly limit or prevent my little sister from watching it, I would. As it is, she spends a good five hours a day plugged into it. Michael V. Peltier | Computer Aided Engineering Network 1420 King George Blvd. | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 48104-6924 | stealth@caen.engin.umich.edu
davef@brspyr1.brs.com (Dave Fiske) (08/30/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0319m01@vector.dallas.tx.us>, telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > [Condensed from an article in the Chicago Tribune, August 22, 1989] > > On 900-909-1133 "Women's Secret Confessions" you get a scratchy recording > of several women who earlier consented to have their phone calls taped for > later listening by strangers. These women sound more like Roseanne Barr > than Joan Collins. > We received a stray issue of some Freebie magazine called "InfoText: The Information by Telephone Magazine". Apparently they made a real boner in a previous issue. Here's the correction from the April 1989 issue: WE CONFESS...WE MADE A MISTAKE! InfoText regrets a typographical error made in our February issue that caused an annoyed but understanding citizen considerable inconvenience. In our news item, "CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL", we covered a service called the "Apology Sound-Off Line" provided by United Telecommunications in Los Angeles. We printed the number and it was incorrect. The number to call if you want to confess is: (213)654-1055. How would you like to have been the unlucky slob whose number was incorrectly printed? Your phone rings day and night, and when you answer, people start emotionally reciting their sins involving brothers-in-law, babysitters, and embezzlement--probably before you even get a chance to say "Hey, you got the wrong number." (By the way, I triple-checked my own typing of that number before sending this article!) -- "ANGRY WOMEN BEAT UP SHOE SALESMAN Dave Fiske (davef@brspyr1.BRS.COM) WHO POSED AS GYNECOLOGIST" Home: David_A_Fiske@cup.portal.com Headline from Weekly World News CIS: 75415,163 GEnie: davef