As a business owner, I am outraged to learn how money I pay on my phone bill toward Internet Relay service for the deaf is being misspent.
It is incredible to me that the FCC has stood by for three years and allowed this valuable service to be hijacked by overseas criminals who use it to rip off U.S. businesses and individuals.
If anything, government should be spending money to help businesses fight fraud. Instead, I find out, it's spending money to help criminals commit fraud.
There is a simple, obvious solution to this mess: The FCC must require proof of need in order to use Internet Relay similar to what states require before issuing handicapped license plates.
Legitimate relay users would submit a letter from a licensed health care professional saying they need the service. After verification, they would then be issued a username and password to log on to the Internet Relay websites.
I urge the FCC, in the strongest possible terms, to initiate such a program immediately.