Phone carriers have big incentive to allow cramming

[Commentary] Phone companies continue to insist that they're doing everything possible to protect consumers. They're not. Far from it.

"State law says that a telephone bill may only contain authorized charges," said Lindsay Brown, a staff attorney with the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, the consumer-watchdog arm of the California Public Utilities Commission. "If a telephone bill contains any unauthorized charges, that is not in compliance with the law," she said. Most people would read "authorized charges" as fees approved in advance by customers. Thus, the onus is on phone companies, as gatekeepers of customers' bills, to ensure that a third-party charge is kosher before payment can be sought. But that's not how the phone companies see it. They consistently have staked out the position that it's up to consumers to spot unauthorized charges on their bills.

Here's the thing: The phone companies would rather see these charges on your bill. And there's a simple reason for that. "They make money from them," said Joe Ridout, consumer services manager with the advocacy group Consumer Action.