DSL charged on a minute by minute basis by a third party company?

[webmigit]

Ok here's the scenario:

I had this program on my computer and have been informed that opening it can cost me $4.99/minute to my phone bill.. Now I know its possible to do with telephone modems, that's how I paid for my McAfee a few years back...

But can it be done with DSL? Can DSL call a number and be charged on a minute by minute basis? If not, can DSL connect to a certain web server that gets your IP and charges your phone bill that way?

Any ideas, anyone? Did I help?
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[TheOldMan346]

webmigit,

Yes, it is theoretically possible. There are plans that bill on a minute-by-minute basis. It depends on who your ISP is and what plan you have. Would need more information before I could say if it is legit or if they are just blowing smoke up your ... whatever.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[F1lby]

DSL doesnt actually dial a number - In Windows you have to give the DSL modem a number to keep Windows happy, but this number isn't related to dialling up - Its just that Windows uses PPP (part of dial-up networking) to authenticate to your DSL provider, and therefore requires a number to make Windows smile....
Sound like you've downloaded a porndialler... this is a piece of software that dials up using a conventional analogue modem and your phone line to access porr quality sex services at an extortionate rate.
Download a copy of Adaware to find out what spyware/porn dialler software is installed on your machine..

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

 

[webmigit]

Well, it wasn't me who downloaded it, but yes, that's exactly the issue and I live with a bunch of people that couldn't tell Texas Instruments from Cray and they're telling me how the internet works... I'm a programmer ina few languages... I trust what I know and it was ticking me offthat they were telling me that my dsl was doing this when I knew dsl couldn't call phone numbers...

Tony Did I help?
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[TheOldMan346]

F1lby is right that DSL does not actually dial a number. If you look at the properties of the DUN entry, you will see a number like 000-000-0000 or 111-111-1111. It is primarily to fit into the confines of Windows. What the ISP's track is connection time. Verizon, my ISP, shows the connection time down to the minute even though I have a router and an unlimited usage plan. Verizon is also my telephone carrier and the DSL plan is charged to my phone bill. Verizon also has measured usage plans and I am sure there are pay-as-you-go plans as well with some ISP's.

You might have downloaded a porndialer but there are also services on the web that charge for usage. Dow Jones stock reports, securities and stock analyses from brokerage houses, reference service reprints, etc. are some of the legitimate ones and it is most often per access and billed to a credit card. I have not run into it myself but it is easily doable to charge on a minute usage basis. If you log into an account on a web server, the clock starts and keeps running until you log out. If you provided a phone number when setting up the account, it can be billed to the number. The telcos have gotten tougher on this but it is still doable.

It is worth further investigation. There are lots of unscrupulous people out there. Pop-ups, pop-unders, and windows that trick you into clicking a button that downloads spyware are becoming more wide-spread. Now there is a new class of ad that takes advantage of the Messenger service to open a browserless window on your computer. To paraphrase the Syms commercials, "An educated surfer is a safe surfer."

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[webmigit]

Ok, there's a misunderstanding... all I was asking was if the porn dialer could charge my phone bill since its with the same phone company and same name as my dsl.. I didn't think so..

As in.. I connect to Site A via Program A for five minutes so five minutes of such time is charged to my phone bill...

Anyway.. you guys confirmed my thoughts on this, thanks
Tony Did I help?
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[TheOldMan346]

webmigit,

OK. No problem.

Just, to answer your question, I don't know your situation and you did not provide enough information to draw a definite conclusion. So the answer remains, yes it is THEORETICALLY possible.