[garne2t]

Why can't AT&T give me the numbers of who is calling MY phone? What a ridiculous rule! On my cell phone I can easily see every phone number of who called me. Why shouldn't I be able to see it on my land line? Is that actually a law or is it something AT&T does so they don't have to provide the service? Who are the idiots that made that "rule" and how do we change it?

[ScottGem]

First its not a good idea to piggyback your question on another thread. This can lead to confusion. You should start a new thread. So I've moved your question to its own thread.

When Caller ID first became available, privacy advocates protested the lack of privacy. They forced laws so the phone company (there was only one at the time) had to allow blocking numbers.

And no you can't see every number. People can block cell phone calls as well as landlines, you may just not have received a blocked call yet.

If you want to change it contact your legislators.

[Fr_Chuck]

Agreed, it is just the law, not really their rules. In additional many telemarketing companies, actually send out a "fake" number to show up, if you ever try and call them back, the number is a non working number ( not sure how they do that)

But the issue is, what is the problem, are you being harassed ?

[ebaines]

The same blocking rules apply to both land lines and cell phone lines. So there really is no difference in how either type of phone line can show the calling number. However, some phone gear is incapable of properly displaying the Caller ID, especially for long distance calls. For example if I receive a long distance call at work the PBX we use only passes along the caller ID as "DID" (Direct Inward Dial), but if that same person calls me at home I see the full name and phone number. It's not AT&T's fault, but rather the equipment my employer uses.

And ScottGem - there never was only one phone company. Even pre-divestiture there were hundreds of phone companies in the US, although the majority of us had our local phone service provided by one of the AT&T subsidiaries, and you didn't have a choice. However, it's true that pre-1968 there was indeed only one long distance carrier in the US.