What? I'm paying telephone operators to make obscene calls?
Yes, you are. There's a charge for Relay on your phone bill — Telecommunications Relay Service Fund
Internet Relay is an operator-assisted phone service
for the deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired, but
anyone can use it. All they have to do is go to one
of the Internet Relay websites and type a telephone
number for the operator to dial. The operator then relays
the conversation, typing what is said to the person
on the computer and reading what is typed to the person
on the telephone.
So who's making these dirty calls?
It's not deaf people. Because there is no screening to make sure that only people who need Relay have access to it, others who do not need the service have been abusing it. These include criminal
gangs in Nigeria and hearing kids in the U.S.
How are kids abusing Relay? Well, some have decided it's fun to make relay operators say dirty words. Sometimes they call their friends. Sometimes they call innocent victims. They know they won't get caught because their phone number doesn't show up on anyone's caller ID (the call comes through the Internet) and it's not even their voice that's doing the talking. It's the relay operator.
Calls range from the inane (typing penis and vagina over and over) to the horrific (describing violent rape, sodomy, mutilation, murder and cannibalism). Often, call content is racist and homophobic, describing sexual violence against N*****s, Jews and f**s.
No matter how mildly or intensely unpleasant the content, the purpose is the same — to sexually humiliate the relay operator.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over 40 million teenagers in the United States. Any one of them can make an Internet Relay call and turn it into a free sex call. How many have to exercise poor judgment before this becomes a problem?
Heard enough? Learn how to save Relay for those who need it and in 60 seconds or less, tell the FCC and Congress how to fix this mess. Otherwise, click here to protect your kids from obscene Internet Relay calls.
