Re: phone fun, was GeoIP database issues and the real world consequences

[Julien Goodwin <nanog () studio442 com au>]

On 27/04/16 09:16, Owen DeLong wrote:
> One thing I always found particularly amusing was that it used to be a toll call to call from San Jose East (408238) 
> to Sunnyvale (I forget the NPA/NXX), but that there were several prefixes in San Jose West (e.g. 408360 IIRC) where 
> it was free to call from San Jose East and could place a free call to Sunnyvale.
>
> I also discovered that a single line with call forwarding was relatively cheap per month and could forward many calls 
> into a hunt group.
>
> So, we used to extend the toll-free reach of BBS systems by finding “friends” with houses in strategic prefixes and 
> having them install a single telephone line with call forwarding. Then, once the line was installed, we’d run over to 
> the location, program the forwarder to go to the BBS hunt lead number and voila… Instant toll free unlimited BBS 
> calling for another 20-30 prefixes for less than $15/month and completely legal.
>
> At first, we thought we had to hide what we were doing as we were sure that the phone company would object, but we 
> later discovered that absent a PUC proceeding to change the tariff they really didn’t have anything they could say 
> about it. We started showing up on the day of install to dial in the forwarding and confirm functionality while the 
> tech was still on site. You should have seen some of the reactions when we showed up with a butt set, set up call 
> forwarding, told someone to make a test call and waited for positive confirmation. Priceless.

Similar things happened in Australia, with more than one ISP using this
to offer lower-toll dial-in numbers to their customers back in the day.