-=[ Quoting Steven Leeman to Phil Roberts ]=-
 SL> *** Answering a msg posted in area IRECEIVED (I received).
 SL> Friday March 27 1998 03:24, Phil Roberts wrote to Steven Leeman:
 PR> Also, it's generally a service you have to pay for.  There are ways to
 PR> spoof CID, so it's not 100% reliable.
 SL> don't worry It's a matter of privacy that our phone company doesn't
 SL> allow it to analog line people... Isdn, Gsm people don't have that
 SL> privacy thing 
This may be a national thing.  In the U.S., there are 2 different ways to get
someone's phone number.  The fancy way is called ANI for "Automaatic Number
Identification".  ANI is used by business phone systems, police, emergency,
etc.  It's a federal crime to spoof ANI.
The less-fancy way is called CID for "Caller ID".  Caller ID is available to
anyone who wants it, but it isn't a free service.  It'll cost extra on the
phone bill.  CID can be spoofed by hardware that's plugged into a phone jack,
blocked by dialing a code before dialing the number, or by subscribing to
"Caller ID BLocking" service.  If someone doesn't want to be ID'd, they will
not be ID'd.
Many CID users block incoming calls from callers who block CID.  Privacy is
a 2-way street, and many people feel that it's an invasion of privacy to
recieve an anonymous call.
                                Phil
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