[GRLUG] $50K Prize if You Find Way to Block Robocalls

[Michael Mol]

On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 10:10 AM, Tim Schmidt <timschmidt at gmail.com> wrote:
> Difficult to do with only access to the phone line, but it would be
> comparatively easy for the phone company itself to block these calls.
> They'd have to implement an algorithm not unlike those used to detect
> credit card fraud, or spam.  If they detect 'spammy' behavior from an
> incoming line, they block it.  Of course, this might not make them so
> popular with the robocallers, who pay for all those phone lines.  Less
> politically risky to try to block the calls at the receiving end.

Easier to do with an intermediary like Google Voice.

I bet there's a real business model available in *becoming* an
intermediary you route your calls through. It depends, of course, on
not using CallerID; instead, you have to use actual circuit address
details. (It's been a long time, so I don't remember the exact
terminology...)

As the intermediary, you check the incoming call for a "spamminess"
factor. If it feels spammy, you put it through an audio captcha or
other challenge/response verification step.

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:wq