Spam is on the move from email to telephone

Be careful before wishing for cheaper phone calls - you may get them. As I did. The voice at the other end is cheery, upbeat, relentlessly American. Until recently, I assumed I got them because of my American connections, and believed that the calls originated in the US partly because of the perky voice and also because they arrive at an American's idea of British dinner time. Telemarketing calls during dinner have been a staple of American life for so long that sitcoms have stopped making jokes about them.

But my British friends get them too. Being registered with the UK Direct Marketing Association's subsidiary, the Telephone Preference Service, makes no difference. With most experts predicting that long distance telecommunications costs will drop to zero, the UK may represent the next "growth market" for transatlantic telemarketers frustrated by the new "Do Not Call" facility that was introduced in the US in 2003

"We as an organisation are very concerne...

» Guardian Unlimited - Wendy Grossman - 10-08-2006