If you think that the FTC and the California Law requiring that private individuals have the option to put their numbers on the Do not call list; and requiring that any unsolicited caller must check that list and not call will protect you from politicians from calling, you may be mistaken. This will definitely affect LA election results in 2010:
Just as it is very difficult control spam on the Internet, it is impossible to have a phone system and free commerce made possible with VIOP (voice over IP) voice broadcasting software and services without some unsolicited calls.
Although it is illegal to call you once you are on the list, there are loopholes. Independent business people who make their numbers public on the search engines, the social networks, their profiles on Yahoo, MSN, Google, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin or any other social network, Youtube or any video sharing site; the media, mainstream media, any public sign anywhere, any number these other numbers may forward to:
If your telephone number is any of these places or is unprotected in any of these places, for instance, from the 1000 friends you have on Facebook.com or linkedin.com whom you do not really know; well then: you can get at least one phone call from everybody in the future who ever decides to start using this technology, which is becoming so inexpensive and so mainstream, that it will be offered by the major telephone companies any day now.
Like spam in your email box, there is really no way to completely control the number of calls that you get, and still have a free market.
Politically speaking: if you were to value this issue above all others, you would vote probably vote for the Green party or the Democrats if are on the side of more regulation; perhaps the Republicans or Independents if you favor wide open free commerce: but one thing is absolutely certain:
The paradox exists always; how do you control spam and still enable free commerce? You simply press nine, supposedly, is the answer.
However, if your number is public anywhere mentioned above, you are still getting calls. More and more of us (myself included) are independent business people who work from our homes; my cell phone is public all over the Internet, I receive a few of these calls every day and it is a little annoying: however, the third time I got this same call; I responded. They got me! Now I am glad that I got the three calls which made me curious.
Just as “Obama Girl” showed us how effective a viral video campaign can be, the candidates who embrace this way of targeting, for instance, every public number within a ZIP code, will win the 2010 election if their message is well received.
Fortunately I do not really get many calls in spite of my exposure, because sales techniques that do not work, immediately fade in the flat world of the Internet, and information travels at lightening speed unfettered.
