johnl@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine) (06/01/88)
In article <8805271347.AA16475@swlabs.UUCP> jack@swlabs.UUCP (Jack Bonn) writes: >Then I was told that [call billing] would never attain popularity. >I was told that >most of the world was very wary of having records kept of where and when >calls were placed by them. They felt that it would invade their privacy >to have this record kept _anywhere_ and that this record could not be kept >without the possibility of them falling into the wrong hands. France Telecom has come up with an interesting compromise. You get an itemized bill, but they leave off the last four digits of each number called. That way you can tell generally where you called and whether the amount charged is right, but not the identity of the party called. By the way, I was surprised to see that you can buy a phone in a retail store in France and take it home and plug it in, just like in the USA except that the French modular plug can be piggybacked one on top of another, and is large and sturdy enough to support ringing current of about 100 amps. Are there any other countries that allow you to use your own terminal equipment? -- John R. Levine, IECC, PO Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238-0349, +1 617 492 3869 { ihnp4 | decvax | cbosgd | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something Rome fell, Babylon fell, Scarsdale will have its turn. -G. B. Shaw