Abuse Report
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Robert Steinmann
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(Date Posted:03/12/2007 7:03 PM)

from http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/everyday/story/4EDB377FDC55CDC48625729A00036777?OpenDocumentBy Cassandra Vinograd COLUMBIA NEWS SERVICE 03/12/2007 Ward Detwiler's best friend, Marc, did not remember meeting a deaf girl at a Chicago bar on a Saturday night in January. He had been pretty drunk and, in fact, did not remember much of the evening. So when he received a call later that week from a telephone operator supposedly speaking on the girl's behalf, he played along. The conversation quickly turned sexually explicit. "I'm going to smack you with a banana covered in peanut butter and have my dog lick it off," the operator told Marc. She typed his confused responses for the person on the other end of the line. As Marc later surmised, the caller was not a deaf person looking for a friendly exchange but rather his buddy Detwiler, 22, who was playing a prank using technology called IP Relay that is meant for the hearing-impaired. "We mess with Marc a lot anyways," Detwiler admitted. "This really just opened up a whole new avenue." IP Relay was created to help people communicate with hearing-impaired individuals. Advocates for the deaf say jokes such as Detwiler's are part of a widespread abuse of the service, which costs Americans millions of dollars. IP Relay services allow deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals to place free calls over the Internet. The user goes to a website, types in a phone number and text. A specially trained operator speaks "for" the user and then transcribes the recipients' words back to the user in a message. The process can also be done from cell phones, which can be programmed to receive calls from a relay site. The technology made its debut in the late 1990s. Most of the nearly 10 companies that provide the service request that users identify themselves at the beginning of a conversation. Doing so, however, is not required. Abuse of the service could result in up to two years in prison or fines, according to Verizon's IP-relay.com website. But documenting abuse could mean violating the laws that prevent service providers from keeping records on call content and caller identity. And with no way to ascertain whether users can actually hear or not, providers are finding it difficult to stop the exploitation of the service. Verizon says, however, that it is taking "unspecified measures" to address the issue. Sprint Nextel says it is implementing "aggressive, concrete steps," according to Mark Elliott, a spokesman. He declined to elaborate on those measures. Those unspecified steps have helped make Sprint's IP Relay service the one with the lowest abuse rates, Elliott said, but he would not reveal how many incidents were recorded or how offenses were gauged. None of the handful of IP Relay carriers contacted would release call-volume numbers because the statistics are considered proprietary information. Phone companies are prohibited both by privacy laws and the Americans With Disabilities Act from keeping records on callers or the content of conversations. MSNBC reported in December that the 22 million calls expected to be placed through IP Relay this year would cost $92.5 million. The services are paid for by phone bill tariffs that feed into the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund, overseen by the Federal Communications Commission. While no hard numbers were available on how many IP Relay calls are legitimately placed by deaf or hard-of-hearing people, the FCC and service providers are meeting with consumer advocacy groups to address their concerns, said Rosaline Hayes Crawford, director of the Law and Advocacy Center for the National Association of the Deaf. The sort of people they want to stop are people such as the friends of Stewart Bewley, 22, who have tricked him several times. Bewley's first experience with IP Relay involved a female operator telling him to go have sex with an animal. He thought it was "a good prank." "We find awkward humor really entertaining. It's just part of our social background," said Bewley, a college senior. "Our humor level plateaus at about a 14-year-old's level. I can definitely see that this is pretty standard guy behavior." Bewley suggested that required registration on the site would probably curb the abuse. "You have to establish rules before you can blame anybody," he said. "If you don't stop such behavior, then it's bound to continue." But any changes to the system would "most likely result in less flexibility, freedom and access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people," said Jay Wyant, president-elect of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Still, advocates for the deaf and the pranksters agree that any solution to the problem looks far off. Detwiler, for instance, cavalierly says he will continue using IP Relay, especially because the tariffs on his own phone bill feed into the government funding for the services. "If I'm getting charged for it," he said, "I might as well use it."

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Informations about Internet Scams: Fraudwatchers.org - Fake Bank Killing: aa419.org

Guidance about Love Scams: Internet-Love-Scams.org - Discussion about Pyramid-/Ponzi-schemes, HYIPs et al: Cattyshaq.com

Die Mofo
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(Date Posted:03/13/2007 2:41 AM)

Those unspecified steps have helped make Sprint's IP Relay service the one with the lowest abuse rates, Elliott said, but he would not reveal how many incidents were recorded or how offenses were gauged.

Really? Either this idiot is full of shit or Verizon's centers do nothing but abuse calls all day. I also love the "unspecified steps." In other words, they're doing nothing but want to make it sound like they really care and are doing something about it.



But any changes to the system would "most likely result in less flexibility, freedom and access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people," said Jay Wyant, president-elect of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Absolute bullshit! Registering for the service would be simple, it would pretty much do away with the fraud and abuse calls, and it would give the deaf their system back. Businesses might actually start to accept internet relay calls again. I'm so sick of this bullshit that they're always spouting.



Detwiler, for instance, cavalierly says he will continue using IP Relay, especially because the tariffs on his own phone bill feed into the government funding for the services. "If I'm getting charged for it," he said, "I might as well use it."

Not that I condone using relay for prank calls, but I understand what he's saying and I think he has a good point. I don't mind hearing people using relay as long as they're making legitimate calls. I've never used relay myself, but I know operators who have. And as long as we're paying for it I have no problem with anybody using it.

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redail get rep alive

Lieutenant Uhura
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(Date Posted:03/15/2007 1:10 AM)

Verizon says, however, that it is taking "unspecified measures" to address the issue.



Yeah, like none. Or making it harder for us to get a call disconnected for abuse. I especially enjoy hearing a supervisor say "Nothing's getting disconnected for the next two hours because I have to get this paperwork done."

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(opr talk like the Terminator)



(opr use Borat voice pls)



"Operator, can"t you use a sexier voice?"

smoothloperator
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(Date Posted:03/15/2007 12:12 PM)

Reply to : Lieutenant Uhura



Verizon says, however, that it is taking "unspecified measures" to address the issue.Yeah, like none. Or making it harder for us to get a call disconnected for abuse. I especially enjoy hearing a supervisor say "Nothing's getting disconnected for the next two hours because I have to get this paperwork done."



Yeah God forbid they do the part of their jobs that requires them to disconnect those calls.  For as long as it takes to get a supervisor, when there's THREE there, there may as well NOT be any criteria, or just let the Lops do it like they used to be able to do.   They made the supervisor "double check" a part of it because they felt Lops use to turn in too many abuse tracker sheets.  Same with Fraud too, they're getting more anal about those too.


For a place like Verizon ,they make MORE money off of pranks and fraud calls that it's not even remotely in their interests to really do much to limit them.  And since the deaf community won't take any sort of a stand against the abuse of "their" service, it won't change.


And the parents of these kids that find it funny to type to themselves saying some of the EXCEEDINLY vulgar and perverted and racist "jokes"...they should be steralized.  And their kids shot.  Seriously these kids either need MORE homework, JOBS, or LIVES...good lord

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Verizon = Devil

Relay needs REFORM NOW!

leavemealone
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(Date Posted:03/17/2007 8:46 PM)

Its a double edged sword for me. On one hand, I take comfort in knowing the kind of kids that abuse relay are the kind that will grow up to be losers. Most of them are obviously slow. They can't spell, can't form complete sentences, can't follow directions, and nobody would hire them because they have absolulely no concept of normal social skills. That's why they get a kick out of relay in the first place, they can exert power over the operator, and power is something they lack normally.



On the other hand, I know in a few years, I'll be the one paying taxes to support their unemployment/welfare/prison sentence. That sucks.



They'll begin mooching the system and end mooching the system, because they're not bright enough to do anything else. They're pathetic. All the time they spend using relay, they could be reading, learning, exercising, helping people who actually need it, or (heaven forbid) doing something with their parents.



I agree. The parents of these kids are either idiots, or seriously lazy. Then again, stupid begets stupid, and I don't know how many times I've had little bastards call their own PARENTS and the PARENT laughs at it. I even had one woman say it was funny the "stupid deaf people" had to use relay because they're "too dumb to talk".



Come on deafies! If that doesn't motivate you to get these people gone, what will?!



I read the article with the guy talking about how he "pays for it" so he's going to continue abusing it. That philosophy can suck it. Your taxes go to pay for other disabled services too, some that you wouldn't dare abuse. What's next? Are seeing people going to demand seeing eye dogs too? They don't fucking need them, but ooooh we help pay for that service so why don't we ALL have one! Perhaps we should all demand wheelchair accessible ramps for our homes....you know, just because it would be fun. Maybe I'll sign up for a class and demand that I get a braille version of my textbook, you know, because I pay taxes to help fund those services.



Just because someone pays taxes, it does not make them entitled to every damn little thing those taxes go to. You're rationalizing the abuse of something that is NOT DESIGNED FOR YOU. So stop fucking doing it. Just because you're american, does not make you entitled to every god damn thing under the sun. That money is supposed to go to people that NEED those services, NOT YOU.



If you have nothing better to do than prank friends, you need to reevaluate your priorities and your life, becuase you are very very pathetic.

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Hello gudday do u have (clean running autos bought for high prices!) for sales qq gaga

operatorhere
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(Date Posted:03/17/2007 10:41 PM)

BRAVO!!!!

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I may be your operator, but I am NOT your bitch!

 Welcome to The Collection of Flashlights!Wolf-eyes ,your eyes break the darkness!
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