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Gordon Henderson wrote: > > Sorry for the indulgence, but I just want to "test this out" on the > DCGLUG folks out there to judge some feedback... > > eNnum for those who don't know is a DNS service which at it's simplest > lets you get a URI in return for feeding in a phone number. (Just like > you'd get a name for feeding in an IP address). The URI in question > can be used directly by a lot of standards based VoIP phones and > services - the net effect is that if I have my landline registered > with enum and I also have a VoIP way to call my landline, anyone in > the world can feed the number into the enum registry and get a VoIP > URI and can then call me via VoIP for free. > > The URIs look like web addresses - eg. sip:1234@xxxxxxxxxx might > describe my phone. > > Great, huh? > > But what if the spammers get hold of it - they can get/guess your > phone numbers and if my VoIP server allows anonymous calls to come > from unregistered sources, then it's a spammers delight! Imagine > robots all over the world placing calls to everyone who is VoIP > accessible for free and playing adverts at them.... > > Anyway, I've just been contacted by someone trying to get me onto > their reseller program so I can register all my clients numbers, etc. > with enum and you know what, call me cynical, but I'm not convinced. A > recent search told me it would cost up to £250 per registration and > that's a lot of money to let spammers call me for free... > > Potentially, it's a boon to bypass the telcos of the world, but I'm > really not convinced myself... > > So just wondering what the thoughts are from the south west... > > Gordon Well I like the idea of having a URI to contact me on (great for people I've lost contact with) but I don't like the spamming idea. If I was to use something like this for personal use then I'd want some sort of blocking system (for instance people who I know can contact me, others I don't know I have to authorise them to contact me, a bit like what MSN does, blocks anyone not in your friends list). But I guess for business use you'd want anyone to be able to contact you (last thing you'd want to do is block potential new customers). I'm in two minds myself. I'd like to see how other people get on with it before I'd sign up. Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html