When I switched to getting my phone service from my Internet provider, I went from a regular phone line to this "digital voice" thing, which I'm not really that thrilled with. For example, having to dial an area code for every number, even the house next door, is truly annoying (trivial I know). The free long distance is nice, and I haven't yet come close to using up all of my minutes (it works kind of like a cell phone; you have a certain number of minutes to spend each month before you are charged extra per minute.

However, there is one thing that bothers me quite a bit. I never got a lot of telemarketers with my Qwest line, but as soon as I switched, I started getting a TON. And since I have this new service based on "minutes", it got me pretty steamed. If my new provider (Earthlink) did indeed sell my name to a bunch of telemarketers, I can't help feeling that can't quite be kosher. It costs me a minute every time a telemarketer calls, whether I pick up or let the machine get it (caller ID is one nice new feature which I'm using a lot these days *sigh*). So, isn't it a bit shady for them to knowingly put me in a position where I'm forced to spend minutes involuntarily? I mean, granted, I've still never used them all, but that doesn't make it right. Am I crazy? (OK, wrong question. ;))

Anyone else experienced this with "digital voice" phone service?

Molly