Sawed Off, Mate!

Those Brits, they sure get it. Iconoculture reports that:

"U.K. inventors have created a device that automatically screens out telemarketers, prank callers and phone scammers. TrueCall blocks telemarketers' numbers while letting trusted peeps through."

"If it doesn't recognize the dialer's number, TrueCall sends callers to a purgatory where they must identify themselves and wait for approval from the person they're trying to call."

Now, if you could direct the caller to a pre-recorded message specifically intended for those that call during the dinner hour (if you know what I mean), then we'd find the ringing of the phone to take on a brand new level of deviousness.