But if you leave that process in the hands of CLEC (telecom providers) they have a financial incentive to make the process impossible and expensive to drive customers away from cheaper alternatives like VOIP.
And the spoofing has become an endemic part of the system. Years ago, there was a separate system for phones, which is why phones kept working even when power an internet went out. That also meant the phone companies knew exactly where a call was coming from because the wire could be traced to its physical location and verified for CallerID. It was also accurate because all landlines were published unless you paid to be excluded.
But none of that is true anymore. Even when you make a call from most “landlines” these days, there’s no actual landline phone system it’s coming through. It’s VOIP. And the same system that’s used to identify your number can be used by anyone, and the phone company giving priority to certain carriers and customer as “trusted” while denying it to others raises net neutrality concerns.
It’s the ongoing security vs freedom debate. You can’t say the phone companies should block calls from unverified numbers while at the same time saying Google shouldn’t block download of unverified apps.
You can’t say the phone companies should block calls from unverified numbers while at the same time saying Google shouldn’t block download of unverified apps.
Sure you can. There’s a difference: Whether or not the owner of the handset requested the traffic.
A random APK from F-Droid isn’t going to suddenly demand my attention while my phone is sitting on my desk with the screen off. An Indian man threatening to jail me if I don’t mail him Amazon gift cards has and will again.
Lots of scams involve getting people to download unverified apks that are used by scammed. That’s the nominal reason for Google’s new bullshit.
Pretending restrictions are good for you is how these companies operate. Telecoms have been doing it for over a century. Why should we suddenly trust them to NOT be evil?
Which is why I was fine with Google’s usual take, there’s a switch in the options you have to turn off to allow installing software from outside the Play store. Keeps the normies on the rails, anyone who pushes the “I’ll take my chances” button is assuming personal responsibility.
Meanwhile: spoofing telephone numbers. We don’t have the same problem with, say, email, do we? We basically need to tear out the telephone system and replace it with something that works in the modern era, quit barely emulating the form factor of a century old system that basically doesn’t exist anymore.
But if you leave that process in the hands of CLEC (telecom providers) they have a financial incentive to make the process impossible and expensive to drive customers away from cheaper alternatives like VOIP.
And the spoofing has become an endemic part of the system. Years ago, there was a separate system for phones, which is why phones kept working even when power an internet went out. That also meant the phone companies knew exactly where a call was coming from because the wire could be traced to its physical location and verified for CallerID. It was also accurate because all landlines were published unless you paid to be excluded.
But none of that is true anymore. Even when you make a call from most “landlines” these days, there’s no actual landline phone system it’s coming through. It’s VOIP. And the same system that’s used to identify your number can be used by anyone, and the phone company giving priority to certain carriers and customer as “trusted” while denying it to others raises net neutrality concerns.
It’s the ongoing security vs freedom debate. You can’t say the phone companies should block calls from unverified numbers while at the same time saying Google shouldn’t block download of unverified apps.
Sure you can. There’s a difference: Whether or not the owner of the handset requested the traffic.
A random APK from F-Droid isn’t going to suddenly demand my attention while my phone is sitting on my desk with the screen off. An Indian man threatening to jail me if I don’t mail him Amazon gift cards has and will again.
Lots of scams involve getting people to download unverified apks that are used by scammed. That’s the nominal reason for Google’s new bullshit.
Pretending restrictions are good for you is how these companies operate. Telecoms have been doing it for over a century. Why should we suddenly trust them to NOT be evil?
Which is why I was fine with Google’s usual take, there’s a switch in the options you have to turn off to allow installing software from outside the Play store. Keeps the normies on the rails, anyone who pushes the “I’ll take my chances” button is assuming personal responsibility.
Meanwhile: spoofing telephone numbers. We don’t have the same problem with, say, email, do we? We basically need to tear out the telephone system and replace it with something that works in the modern era, quit barely emulating the form factor of a century old system that basically doesn’t exist anymore.