‘This Phone is Tapped’ Stickers Retired
After eleven years in service with nearly half a million copies deployed by CrimethInc. agents around the world, we are sad to announce the retiring of our This Phone is Tapped stickers. Sad, because we had hoped to retire them after defeating the rule of ubiquitous surveillance on every form of remote communication, but unfortunately the only thing that has been defeated are payphones. As payphones have disappeared, so has demand for these stickers and as we sent out the last copies this week, we decided not to reprint them—partly because we have a more than capable replacement already in action.
Thanks to everyone who helped cover payphones across the globe over the last decade, as well as achieving placement on the Wikipedia Phone Tapping page and helping out hapless blog editors forced to find images to go with unending stories of mass surveillance.
Over the years we’ve received dozens of emails from payphone owners containing threats both legal and otherwise that were, of course, never followed through on. We’ve collected the most entertaining ones below, verbatim and in their entirety, so you can enjoy their hilarity as well.
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Why are you encouraging people to place stickers on the back of payphone handsets telling people the phone is tapped? Your home phone could be tapped as well and is in fact more likely to be tapped. Do you place these stickers on your home phones? Do you realize what this does to people in the payphone business. Do you realize that some people will not use the phone because of that. Do you realize that is someone is caught putting that sticker on a payphone that I’m going to kick the living shit out of them and then shove a payphone receiver up their ass. What is the purpose of your web site? Are you trying to help people or screw them?
Do you realize that you are encouraging vandelisim. You are nothing but a peice of shit. I hope your family attacked by raving lunitic and beaten with a payphone handset.
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I am the owner of several Pay Telephones and very recently your pay phone stickers have made their way to their handsets. I am concerned for the following reasons: Advertising on pay phones is not free defacing pay phones is illegal interfering with public access and my business is not tolerated. To that end I will give your company 24hrs to remove said pay phone stickers. Should you like to advertise on my pay telephones the cost is $35.00 per hand set per month.
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I am the owner of a payphone company in upstate New York. Your stickers are appearing on my phones, it does not appear to be hurting my business, however, it is against the law in NYS. Any sticker, taxi, towing, work from home, weight loss, etc., etc. Please instruct your subscribers not to put them on public payphones. My phones are regularly inspected by the NYS Public Service Commission, and if they issue a citation to me for these stickers I have 10 days to remove them or be fined $1,000.00 per incident. I will have the citations forwarded to your company.
I will remove the stickers at this point in time for $25 per location, we have removed 71 as of today. I will send the invoice to your Greensboro NC address. If you wish to have the people you sent them to remove them, they must take care in using solvents to minimize damage.
Lastly, I do allow advertising on my phones, however, the advertising must be in a framed plaque. There is a monthly fee associated with advertising. All advertising must also meet with the property owners concurrence.
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Someone is placing these stickers on public payphones throughout NC. These are privately owned payphones and should not be tampered with. PLEASE STOP THIS PRACTICE NOW!!!!!!!!!
Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter.
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I operate, and own a Payphone company in the PGH area. People are buying these stickers and plastering them all over my phones. I will find out who they are, and have them arrested, or taken to the Majistrate. Our phone lines are NOT allowed to be tapped without our Permission, period. They are classified as a different kind of line, and not subject to the same rules as a Residential line.
You are giving out FALSE information, for which I will report to the INTERNIC, and any other agency that will hear me.
I would like to know WHY you would print this nonsense? Only a complete idiot would make up something like this in order to make money. It is VANDELISM, no matter who dies it, and you are giving them the avenue to do so.
I hope one day some jerk-off puts a bumper sticker on your car without asking, see how you like it. Or paint or post things on your home. You would not like that, I am sure, yet you could care less, as long is it does NOT happen to you.
Your web page is pretty sickening, if yo do not like it here, move to Iraq then. Watch him kill his people in experiemnts and what not. MAYBE not you personally, but your web site REAKS of trators. When war begins, I hope anyone who tries to stop the military is arrested, and shot for treason.
