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Woman fined for blowing whistle into phone
Published: 22 May 12 15:55 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120522-42685.html
A 61-year-old German woman has been fined €800 for blowing a whistle down the telephone at a call-centre worker and damaging her hearing - after she got fed up with constant cold-calls to her house.
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She was hoping just to deter the company from calling her again, but ended up giving herself a criminal record - and the female call-centre employee long-term hearing problems and tinnitus due to the effort she put into the high-pitched blast.
Finding her guilty of bodily harm, the judge fined the 61-year-old €800.
She initially appealed the fine but decided to pay it shortly before a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
DPA/The Local/jcw
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Your comments about this article:
Also, I doubt that the 800 Euro is more than 90 days of her income, so she doesn't have a criminal record due to that fine.
I found one method which causes no harm to anyone has has definitely cut down on the # of unsolicited calls I receive- I speak only English and tell them I do not speak German... They usually then ask if my husband speaks German, I say no and they thank me and hang-up... I'd have to say, since I started doing this, I've seen a reduction from 1-2 calls per day to 1-2 per week...
It is impossible for a phone headset to damage hearing. They can reproduce a frequency, but not in sufficient volume to damage hearing. If you fired a pistol next to a telephone microphone while someone was listening at the other end, they would just hear a deep thump, but not at a volume sufficient to even make them jump. Telephones have very little power with regard to output levels. (You need a powerful amplifier to make loud sounds.) They also have a shunt across the line to prevent spikes from things like lightning strikes.
The Judge/Magistrate had no idea about the technology involved.
The judge should fine the caller 1.600 EUR for the stress inflicted on the lady - her action (blowing a whistle into the phone) speaks of somebody under stress.
Personally I am contemplating sueing such callers for harassment and disturbing my peace - their calls are not solicited at all. In their view we live for them and we should always pay attention to them as though we owe them something.
You are absolutely correct. Telephone systems and telephone handsets actively limit the loudness of the sound they reproduce. This safety feature has been in place ever since telephony began a century ago. It is not possible for telephone to damage one's hearing as a result of excess loudness. The judge in this case is ignorant!
the judge is wrong about the possibility of hearing damage and shows no empathy with the woman being driven mad by unwanted calls. if he didnt live in such a privileged and insulated world he would understand the helplessness and frustration these calls can cause. this ruling should be overturned and the lady awarded BIG money for mental anguish..
As others noted, in the US there is a no-call list, and, interestingly, an actual court case. A man went to court complaining about the calls. His basis was that he had a handy with a limited minutes plan. Since incoming calls counted, the caller was using the time he paid for. There was already a case where a company had sued for unwanted faxes, claiming it wasted their paper and toner and therefore it constituted theft since the source had been warned...in writing.
Using that as a precedent, the court ruled that if the caller violated the no-call list, and used the man's time, they were stealing from him. The company was found guilty. Not sure that would work in Germany, nor on a land-line that doesn't have limited minutes...but...it's an idea.
wa
Sadly its not the judge (which I have not much respect for German judges who can, if possible, become one at 28yrs old) but the stupid defense lawyer . From my experience, German lawyers are more like secretaries and if you do not instruct them exactly what to do. Then you lose.
German justice system is well, upside down.
A telephone can be and often is a rude instrument, ringing when eating, sleeping watching your favorite game ,playing a game with family, helping your child with ome work ect. To get up and answer a ringing phone to hear some telemarketer on the other end is cause for whistle blowing or if possible to pull the person through the phone to give them your unbiased opinion of the call.
As I stood there looking out of my second floor window of my apartment, I wondered why they hadn't visited me yet.
Never heard from them again.
You try to be polite, but the dedicated marketing swine take anything other than being hung up on as a sign you still might be talked into a sale.
I worked in sales for a week and quit because it made me feel like a parasite.
One of my computers now answers the phones and if the number does not match with an allowed caller database I've compiled,they are automatically billed $150 for each minute they tie up my phone line.Perfectly legal.I do computer repairs & some consulting and my time is valuable.Invoices are sent out to the address that a reverse phone number lookup reveals.
It has reduced the number of unwanted calls from over 50 a day to less than 5 a week
In the USA, DNC lists are becoming increasingly moot as solicitors move offshore and/or hide behind multiple VOIP relays.
I have a collection of lame letters from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office to the effect that "Sorry, we cannot do anything about your DNC complaing because we cannot trace the call bco VOIP....".