How much is spent on Internet Relay?

Relay is paid for out of a charge on your phone bill for the Telecommunications Relay Service Fund. There is no cost to the person making or receiving a Relay call. In the six month period ending May 2005, the TRS Fund paid out over $51 million to Internet Relay providers.

How many calls are legitimate?

Relay operators estimate that less than half — more likely 25% or less — of all Internet Relay calls come from legitimate relay users. The rest are either fraudulent or obscene.

But I heard somebody say the problem was getting better

The numbers say the opposite. There are more Internet Relay calls now than ever — and most are still Nigerian fraud or obscene calls. That will never change until proof of need is required in order to use Internet Relay. No “technology solution” can take the place of that.

At least one Internet Relay provider says it has installed software to block IP addresses recognized as originating outside the U.S. Relay operators who worked for that provider say that software was quickly thwarted. This is not surprising, as software to hide your IP address is available on the Internet and costs less than $30 to download.