"If you've ever used one of the half-dozen websites that allow you to control the phone number that appears on someone's Caller ID display when you phone them, the U.S. government would like to know who you are. Last week the FCC opened an investigation into the caller-ID spoofing sites -- services that began popping up late 2004, and have since become a useful tool for private investigators, pranksters and more than a few fraud artists."
FCC Probes Caller-ID Fakers
"If you haven't noticed, useful Caller ID (meaning a number and a name display) is pretty much a bust in the VoIP marketplace except for calls originating from Baby Bell-controlled local phone numbers. And, with some VoIP providers, getting a CallerID name with any incoming call is a rarity. Jeff Pulver has proposed a new national database where you can list yourself. In fact, you can sign up today. But, suffice it to say, it isn't soup just yet. Known in the trade as CNAM service, many telephony service providers simply throw incoming names in the bit bucket unless you are one of their subscribers. The Baby Bells are among the most notorious. Some don't even provide CNAM service from other areas of the country unless the caller is part of the local carrier's feifdom. And I guess if I charged $40 for basic local phone service with CallerID, I'd want to keep my monopoly, too. We'll have more on the pricing issue at the end of today's article."
Nerd Vittles » Putting Real Names Back in CallerID: 3 Quick Perl Solutions for the Asterisk PBX:
"It wasn't long after caller ID became popular that some people signed up for telephone services to block their number from being displayed. Now comes another trick: Companies are marketing systems to help callers fool telephone identification services into thinking they are someone else entirely. "
New Tricks Fool Caller ID (washingtonpost.com):
"Caller I.D. isn't what it used to be. Hackers have discovered that the handy feature that tells you who's calling before you answer the phone is easily manipulated through weaknesses in Voice over IP (VoIP) programs and networks. They can make their phone calls appear to be from any number they want, and even pierce the veil of Caller I.D. blocking to unmask an anonymous phoner's unlisted number."
VoIP hacks gut Caller I.D.
