[kevao]

You just don't want to address my point. Part of the phone line (what's inside my house) and the apparatus itself is my property. The telephone company will tell you that. You even conceded this point yesterday.

That's an impressive argument you wrote in favor of property rights. But why don't I have any say over how my property is used, my property in this case being my part of the phone line and the appartus? How can you defend telemarketers' property rights and trample mine at the same time? Certainly you're not suggesting that their rights trump mine?

[Held_to_Ransom]

You have complete control over how your property is used. You can use it to prop a door open. You can use it as a paperweight, whatever. But you can't use it to talk to people on the phone systems we all share without sharing the common network and systems we all share. Those don't belong to you and you don't have the right to tell other people what they can or can not do with them. You have ample means to stop all telemarket calls yourself. Turn off the phone, screen calls from those who block their numbers, use a phone machine, turn off the ringer etc. All of these are the equivalent of putting up a 'do not trespass' sign. Inflicting more stupid bureaucracy on the country and taking jobs away from those who need them are not.