Cellular Calls & Text Messaging Harassment

Please sign this petition to put a halt to "Repetitive Cellular Calls & Text Messaging Harassment".

Harassment covers a wide range of offensive behavior. It is commonly understood as behavior intended to disturb or upset. In the legal sense, it is behavior which is found threatening or disturbing and is also very annoying, especially when someone continues to harass on a daily basis. This type of harassment interferes with your ability to make important or emergency calls, if necessary, and can become expensive if the harasser continues to harass until your air time or messaging allowance is exceeded. Even worse, it can become very expensive if text messaging services are not included with your monthly cellular plan at all (some people don't use text messaging and don't include it in their plan). 

I am not the only person who has a cellular phone who is harassed with repetitive calls and text messages; I know there are many of you who are victims just the same. Annoying texts and calls from those you've parted ways with, who are just plain vindictive.

Question: Why should that behavior become an inconvenience? Why should we have to change our number? Why should we have to change our plan, adding additional minutes or text messages only to cost more money per month, just to catch up? Why?

Answer: We shouldn't have to; there must be a solution! 

Solution: Airtime providers such as T-Mobile, Verizon, e.g., and cellular phone manufacturers such as as Motorola, e.g., should offer consumers "Individual Call Blocking", an optional feature for all phones. This feature would offer consumers the ability to block individual numbers instead of blocking all or none, such as with T-Mobile. If airtime providers were to provide this service at a small monthly cost, or at no cost (harasser's option), it would be well worth the cost for those of us who find it a necessity, therefore making it less expensive than having to pay for an overage of unnecessary calls or text messages from harassers whose activity could be proven via the airtime provider.

I, and many others, are annoyed that options such as these are not available for consumers who pay for airtime (calls and texts both incoming and outgoing). When your airtime or text messaging plan exceeds its limit, due to harassing calls and messages, it now becomes a problem which requires payment for each additional minute or message that is incurred, depending on what plan you've agreed to.

Generally, most people try to save money by choosing a low-cost cellular plan that suits their needs and to get the best price possible, therefore most will not choose an "Unlimited Minutes & Messaging Plan". This now becomes an inconvenience to those who have fallen victim to harassment, even worse for those with limited incomes who find their phone mandatory for income (i.e., having a job On Call 24/7, such as myself), subjected to temporary phone disconnection.  

Please sign this petition to put a halt to "Repetitive Cellular Calls & Text Messaging Harassment".