Those damn advertisers

I just read this on Engadget. Adcalls, is a free VoIP program like Skypes where you can make free long distance calls over the Internet, with an ad scrolling over the app. Easy enough to ignore you say? There is a catch. By agreeing to the end-user agreement, you are signing up yourself and any number you dial to a "List" that can be purchase by marketers. This reminds me of the old free long distance 1-800 number where you listen to an ad before the call goes through.

Firstly, I question the quality of this list, since those who sign up are mostly the same a crowd looking for a cheap thrill and buying this list will probably yield a very low query-rate. Secondly, it just seems a bit annoying that advertisers are still trying to adopt the old model of disruption and trickery online when it's clear that the audience does not response to such tactics.