If 2006 was the year of the Unity for Gallaudet movement, 2007 could be the year of SORS - Save Our Relay Services. I am concerned about the possible effect on the hearing world of all the media coverage of the criminal abuse of the internet relay services (the latest being that article on MSNBC.com).
Up until now, the response from the average hearing consumer has been minimal. What if awareness continues to grow because of all the media coverage? It could lead hearing people to take a real look at their phone bills and become upset, because they are paying for this abuse of the relay services. According to MSNBC.com, "The IP Relay system is funded by little-noticed charges on our monthly phone bills, charges described in terms like 'Disability Access Fee' or 'Carrier Cost Recovery Fee.' "
That now-small fee could really start to go up not only as a result of increasing abuse, but also because more hearing people are ditching their landline phone service for cell phones. Do cell phone users also pay this fee? I don't know. I looked at my T-mobile bill and it lists two things that I thought might cover it: "Federal Universal Service Fund" and "Regulatory Programs Fee." Checking the FCC site, I was able to rule out the Federal Universal Service Fund. The Regulatory Programs Fee is an all-purpose fee for federal programs, and I don't know if that includes the relay services.
What can be done about the abuse of relay services? Some people have proposed an authentication system that would require deaf people to register. I have some problems with this concept! One, it is an invasion of privacy. Two, it would be vulnerable to fraud and easy to defeat! Unless deaf people were required to show up in person and provide audiograms as proof that they needed internet relay services, it would be very easy for the criminally-minded to register online and claim they are deaf.
I have another solution in mind - which I expect will arouse a storm of controversy. The keyword here is "free." Other than the fact that it is easy to hide behind a relay service, the criminally-minded abuse relay services because the relay calls are free. What happens if you take away the free? What if people had to actually PAY to use the relay services? What I have in mind is a minimal charge - perhaps pennies per relay call, with the rest heavily subsidized by the government. My thinking is that if the criminally-minded knew they would have to pay a fee - no matter how small the fee is - it would reduce their use of the relay service.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
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6 comments:
Aren't most of these calls originating outside of the country? I would say definitely charge for any international call. The rest of the world pays big fees to be able to make international calls.
I think there should be some kind of registeration system where IP Relay users have to prove that they are Deaf to be able to enjoy the services IP Relay services provide.
A friend of mine lived in Sweden for a year and he said Sweden does that thing and the Deaf people there have their own unique IP Relay ID number.
I know privacy is an issue in the United States, but if we want accountability and assurance that the services that were designed for us, the Deaf people; some kind of ID Number may solve the problem and drive down the costs of IP Relay services.
My two cents.
Ditto to Michael.
If it would prevent fraud calls, I would not mind the idea of registering. I will DO anything to prevent hearing people using relay service to do prank and fraud calls, that includes registering. As far for charging a penny to use relay service, BAD idea.
how would registering for authentication be invasion of privacy ? It is no different than when you sign up for telephone line/cell phone where you have to give a lot of personal information.
Perhaps use X509 certificates to identify the callers. Make the registrations one-time purchase fee for when caller signs up for telephone line/cell phone. This could help offset the cost of registrations, but keep calls themselves "free".
That's why I use mostly IP relay - no authenication needed. Hassle-free. Use VRS, too. I believe most issues of abuse come from using hard-line phones such as tty calls.
The fraud part is only the tip of the iceberg. My husband tells me that many of the Relay operators do not speak good English. Every so often he "fires" one and asks for someone who can speak good English. And I know from my end of the conversation that they cannot spell!
Perhaps the Relay services should hire more CODAS?
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