[Discuss] Consumer's Union attempts to end robocalls [OT]

[Rich Braun]

MBR <mbr at arlsoft.com> noted:
> Every time I see "CU attempts to end robocalls" the
> subject line, I think we're talking about the venerable Unix utility
> 'cu', and I wonder what clever technique someone's come up with to use a
> modem dialer from the early 1980s (late 1970s?) to stop robocalls.

You laugh, and believe this impossible?

Not so fast. This *actually happened* (at least, something quite similar)!
Back in the mid-1980s, when both 'cu' and the Hayes Smartmodem were new, a
particularly-annoying organization like the Moral Majority (I forget which
one) was ramping up its outreach, encouraging potential devotees to call its
800 number.

Some of my friends joined a grass-roots movement to target that 800 number,
and set up 'cu' with their Hayes modems to dial it all day long. After not too
many days of that, the 800 number had to be changed, the attack was called
off, and the point was made.

:-)

-rich