Thrilling Communications Feat or Hyperbole Overdrive?

This weekend, I received a vaguely written press release about an "opportunity" to participate in the "World Record for the Most Participated, Longest International Call Using VoIP."

Certainly not short on hyperbole, the press release went on to say that this event would be "the most thrilling communications feat ever attempted since Alexander Graham Bell's first telephone call."

Strike a blow for modesty! Woo-hoo!

Language like that made me think of whatever the VoIP equivalent would be to the old college stunt of seeing how many people you could stick in a phone booth. In other words, let's see how many people we can get to participate in this call, and how long we can keep them on the line.

Well, at least the phone analogy works.

The press release makes this event sound something like a VoIP orgy, but let me save you the trouble. This "thrilling communications feat" is simply a promotion for seven free days of international calling.

The promotion is via some company named WhyPayForCalls. The fact that their Web site offers no "About Us" information is a bit disappointing.

Looking out for you, I did check to see who the "whypayforcalls" domain was registered to. I found that it belongs to an Englishman who also owns the domainwww.befree.com.

Go there, make your own judgment, and then report back to us by posting a TalkBack.