Who’s calling, please?

You’d think the mechanical ringing, the Christmas songs, the dance

themes and any other number of zany tunes that flood forth from

cellphones would be the worst thing about those tiny pocket tethers.

But even worse is when the call that’s making all the noise is

from someone you don’t know. Worse still is when it’s a sales call

from a business. Don’t even get us started! We’re paying for the

privilege of getting solicited?

But perhaps not for much longer.

The California Assembly has passed a bill, written in part by

Newport’s Assemblyman John Campbell, that would require cellphone

service providers to get written consent from customers before adding

numbers to any directory or database. Customers also couldn’t be

charged for opting out.

That sounds about right, and Campbell once again proves he knows

what his constituents want.

Cellphone companies, for their part, say they were about to do the

same thing, even without the law. OK. So there shouldn’t be a

problem, right?

Call us when the governor signs it into law.