The Fantasy Factory: An Insider's View of the Phone Sex Industry

Introduction

This is not a book about phone sex. It is a book about the disembodiment of intimacy, the unfolding of a personal relationship in the absence of face-to-face interaction. The growth of intimacy in an atmosphere of disembodiment is fertile ground for those who seek to understand the role of self in pretense and role-playing, the abstraction of sexuality from physicality, and the role of fantasy in constructing a useful reality. Phone sex is the data source, and it illustrates a greater point than prurience; it illustrates how it will be possible to be human in the twenty-first century.

Primary relationships are often described by sociology texts as close, enduring, rather primitive social relationships. Relationships become more transitory and fragmented with industrialization and urbanization, moving into a secondary phase. Phone sex illustrates a tertiary phase of human relations, one that is mediated by technology. The facsimile, the telephone answering machine, the computer modem, the walkmans and watchmans are all mechanisms that increase the social as well as physical distance between communicating individuals. While facilitating distant communication, these machines minimize personal contact and mediate interactions between individuals, so that communication is conducted from person to machine, machine to person.

This indirect quality of communication creates a disembodiment, a distance between communication and self. This disembodiment makes all things possible. Disembodiment offers liberation from the constraints of physical disability, stigma, and stereotype, and is potentially good for the human spirit and the depth of intimate communication; however, those who hide their insecurities behind disembodiment may find themselves alienated from the people with whom they wish to be intimate. New gullibilities emerge from the process. Exploitative skills are developed. The best and the worst of human nature stand ready to seize the opportunity, and it appears to many that the worst of human nature is taking the lead.

The disembodiment of intimacy is not a new phenomenon, but it has only recently grown ubiquitous and socially important. Pen pals have been taking advantage of the freedom of disembodied communication since the Pony Express, but they were the exception to human relationships rather than the rule. The industrial revolution sparked a debate among social analysts who worried about the dangerous effects of the isolation and lack of personal intimacy in modern society (Tönnies 1887; Durkheim 1893b). Even the most prophetic of the early sociologists, however, could not foresee the impersonal reality of twentieth-century urban life.

Visions of a world without direct human interaction are always frightening projections. Researchers, fearing the isolation of physical distance, emphasize loneliness and alienation over innovation and endurance. Yet there are glimmers of redemption in the technological age. In response to the alienating aspects of modern life, the individual develops, in the words of Georg Simmel, an organ protecting him against the threatening currents and discrepancies of his external environment which would uproot him (quoted in Schur 1988: 35). In a society where intimacy is problematic, people find creative ways to use the very aspects of communication that have been assumed to be alienating. They use technological innovation to reinvent intimacy in an environment that often hides and distorts intimacy as it has been traditionally understood.

Two of the most revolutionary developments in communication have been the invention of the telephone and the computer. With the introduction of each of these instruments analysts have cheered the possibilities for communication across barriers of class, sex, and race. Each has proved disappointing, however, because the social constructs are so ingrained in our psyches. Created within us, we carry them with us, wherever we go, anonymously or by name.

The disembodiment of intimacy has also raised questions about the traditional notion of a single self. If we were able to transcend the boundaries of race and class by communicating indirectly, we also might be able to transcend the self as a single, central identity. Postmodernists have deconstructed the notion of a single self but have left a minefield in its place, a disjointed, fragmented ground scattered with concepts that rely on the old concept of self.

In Life on the Screen (1995), Sherry Turkle explores the idea that on-line selves make it possible to integrate our multi-faceted postmodern selves with our sense of central self. The multiple selves that emerge in disembodied communication are linked to a central self and are not distinct entities; though details and physical descriptions may vary, core elements of character, humor, and personality remain constant. These elements are not created purposefully by an individual, but rather are generated by neurological physiology, socialization, educational training, and previous experience. Selves are not created out of thin air, but emerge from a limited set of preexisting possibilities.

The pornography industry has been tremendously successful in using the tools of modern communication to respond to the alienation of modern man, and the impoverishment of modern women, by manufacturing intimacy in industrial quantities. Sexual intimacy can now be had without physical contact, via videotape, computer modem, telephone, or facsimile. Pornographic interest in virtual reality is developing neck-and-neck with the technology that will make it real. The technological development of disembodied intimacy provides the consumer with some intimacy and some security from the riskiness of direct sexual and emotional contact in the jungle of twentieth century urban life.

The Industry: An Overview

In the ten years since its inception, the phone sex industry has become a billion dollar business and is continuing to grow despite widespread varied efforts to curb its availability. Psychic phone lines, cyber chat rooms, and many other services are emerging to take advantage of the desire for disembodied intimacy. The users and providers of these services are not strange or extraordinary; they are founding members of modern society.

You or I might never call a phone sex line, but apparently others do. Pacific Bell, in the first twelve months after it began contracting phone sex exchanges local to the New York City area, reaped $13.5 million in revenues (Time 1987). In 1994, the four international exchange carriers (Telesphere, AT&T, US Sprint, and MCI) collected $900 million in profits from international 900 number calls alone, a market that is increasing because of its relative freedom from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations of obscene content and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) restrictions on business practices. These international profits are in addition to even greater domestic profits from the 900 and 976 lines within the United States (Economist 1994).

Four telecommunications entities are involved in the handling of a 900 or 976 call. (1) An information provider creates an information service, such as a whip-me line, and works with advertising agencies to promote the service. (2) The provider often leases the necessary computer equipment and software from an independent agent called a service bureau. Usually the service bureau solicits would-be information providers by advertising low-cost, preplanned business strategies that include all necessary equipment and services. (3) The service bureau leases the long-distance transmission services from one of the four international exchange carriers (IXCs). (4) All 900 and 976 calls are billed by local exchange carriers (LECs), pursuant to arrangements with the IXC. The IXC instructs the caller's LEC on the appropriate charges and the LEC bills the customer for the call. The LECs are also responsible for collecting the charges and adjusting billing when necessary.

Different types of computer technology are available for different purposes: flat rate for a prespecified amount of time, a per minute charge, international call billing, or payment by credit card. Different pricing structures demand different strategies to attract callers and maximize profits. A caller can only estimate a per-minute charge, an imprecise method at best, and if the charges appear on the caller's phone bill he may not realize the cost until up to thirty days after the charges are accrued. An imprudent caller may spontaneously talk for hours on these lines without realizing the cost of the call. When the bill arrives the desire has passed, and the caller often feels foolish for having called in the first place. Embarrassed, he pays unquestioningly. These circumstances—the vagueness of the charges being accrued, the spontaneous nature of the call, and the stigmatizing nature of the involvement—all produce an ideal environment for false, fraudulent, or usurious charges.

The numerous technologies available offer varying opportunities for fraud. The lines that are restricted to calls of a prespecified length enable callers to speak for three or fifteen or forty-five minutes for a single price that appears on their phone bills. In order to maximize profit, companies using these lines need to charge a high rate for the prespecified time, and they often hide or disguise the price of the call. They also often refer callers from one 976 number to another, offering various reasons to motivate callers to place more and more calls.

An operator who works a flat-rate line has two conflicting goals. If she wants the caller to call back regularly, she will spend the time to convince him to call back and ask for her again. Yet at the same time she needs to get rid of him as soon as possible so that she can move on to another caller without wasting valuable seconds. Flat-rate lines also provide operators with the most freedom to hang up on obscene or unpleasant callers, since the full price of the call can be billed. The caller's motivation, in contrast, is to use the full time allotted him and to delay full gratification until the end of the call.

Per minute billing, in contrast, offers conversations of unlimited length. The calls are billed by the phone or credit card company, leaving the caller to estimate the length of time he has spoken and the charges he has accrued. This estimation is often grossly imprecise, and an imprudent caller may talk for hours per day for several weeks, accruing thousands of dollars in charges before ever seeing a bill. Credit card charges establish an upper limit at the beginning of the call, giving the caller an opportunity to hang up or request additional time. The operator's best course with per minute phone systems is to create an intense, ongoing relationship that exploits the caller's emotional or sexual neediness in a monthly cycle, before the first bill arrives.

There are some standard ways that phone sex operators use to keep callers on the line. Some develop ongoing relationships with callers, leading them to believe they will meet someday. Some are adept at wasting time by instructing callers to retrieve pen and paper, or to hold while the operator looks for a photograph she has been describing. Prerecorded messages are used to waste time before the caller is connected to the operator, instructing the ingenuous caller to press 1 for a blonde, 2 for a brunette. Misleading callers about the price per minute of such calls is less important than keeping them occupied while they hold on.

Companies can also use 800 numbers to bypass the LEC and bill charges directly to a caller's credit card. The caller must authorize a maximum amount to be billed at the beginning of the call. This protects the customer from amassing a bill he is unprepared to face. When the prespecified limit has been reached, the caller must either hang up and call back or be transferred to someone who can authorize additional billing. The flow of the call is interrupted at that point, offering the caller an opportunity to hang up.

The 800 number services also have the advantage of bypassing many restrictions on content imposed by the exchange carriers. These lines can protect themselves even further from content bans by bouncing their phone connections through foreign phone companies, making the provider subject to more liberal pornography laws and the billing even more ambiguous. An operator working an 800 or international line is likely to discuss some subjects that might be unacceptable on a domestic system. She has less freedom to hang up on offensive callers and less authority to decide what kinds of calls she will and will not take.

When a caller wants to share his life with Tiffany, he generally does not want her to ask for his Mastercard number first. When he calls a 900, 976, or international number, the caller does not have to have his credit approved, phone number verified, or residence established. For the abstract price of a phone call, which he will not face until up to 30 days later, he can have his dreams come true without directly confronting the mercenary nature of the interaction. The credit card billing practices, while protecting consumers, reduce their ability to lose themselves in the fantasy, the very service they are buying.

Billing issues also affect the level of trust between the participants and the illusion that they are communicating privately and intimately. Though their discourse is shaped and influenced by a myriad factors, the participants would like to believe that it is unique. This is part of the fantasy the caller is buying. Although several agencies listen to, participate in, and profit from the exchange, the job of these agencies is to remain quietly in the background.

LECs, commonly known as local phone companies, are united under the umbrella of the National Association for Information Services (NAIS). While remaining quietly unobtrusive regarding the dialogue, the NAIS is a vocal and powerful lobby for the interests of both the LECs and IXCs. The NAIS has been tremendously successful in directing restrictive legislation at the transient information providers who have remained disunited and relatively powerless.

The phone companies first envisioned the 900 and 976 technology as a way of disseminating an entirely different kind of information from that offered in phone sex. The IXCs had hoped for AIDS hotlines, immigration information services, and mainstream religious messages. They have held on to that hope, despite overwhelming evidence that a different kind of provider has evolved. As late as 1991, Thomas Pace, director of telecommunications policy for Dow Jones and Company, Inc., claimed that today's audiotext programs help doctors make diagnoses and prescribe treatment; help investors make financial decisions based on the most up-to-date information; and help responsible charities like the Red Cross spread their message and collect donations (U.S. Congress 1991). Jim Herold, director of California 900/976 services for Pacific Bell, claimed that California 900 is an information source, a business channel, an entertainment center, a charitable or social help option all in one (U.S. Congress 1991). The kinds of businesses the LEC and IXC executives mention generate a small portion of 900-number revenues, however, while dial-a-porn, psychic networks, and chat lines are substantial contributors. According to Tennessee Representative Bart Gordon, 900 numbers have become a haven for tricksters, scam artists and high-tech hustlers (Gordon 1991). The phone companies, though they do not set the content of the messages and have distanced themselves by letting service bureaus intermediate, nevertheless provide the technology, the opportunity, the billing, and the customers for these hustlers to hustle.

The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance (1991) provided an illustration of how the IXC stands to profit by facilitating a dishonest provider without accepting responsibility for the ensuing swindle. A fraudulent vacation sweepstakes used a 900 number to generate $940,000 in billing before a judge ordered all the money returned to the consumers. MCI, which provided the telephone link but claimed no liability for the fraudulent promotions, was allowed to keep its share of the profit. MCI stated that the fees were necessary for the actual cost of the use of the lines. Congressman Bart Gordon described this incident as akin to an armed robbery after which the robber returned the wallet but charged the victim a fee for use of the gun. Having the provider return its share of the money is a step in the right direction, but allowing the IXC to keep its share does seem to be