Adventures in Telemarketing

[tw]

I have no problem with telemarketers as long as they pay for the medium. Advertisers get in by paying for the newspaper, for TV & radio shows, for Internet web sites, for the roads their billboards sit on, and for the phone book. But when a telemarketer uses my phone, I expect him to pay for that phone and phone line.

Same also applies to those road signs that read "Work at Home" or "Finally Health Insurance at...". You want to advertise on a utility pole? Then you pay Peco or Verizon for access to that pole and the local governments for the zoning variance. We know those signs are outright scams. We know that utilities do not permit advertising. They want to advertise without paying like honest business do - as they also scam those who respond.

This is not a free speech issue. This is tresspassing. If he wants to use my phone to sell his product, then he damn well can pay for the medium. However the telemarketer has found a way around that. Instead, it is cheaper to purchase a congressman.