Firm defends 'Idol' voting
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USA Today
"American Idol" went public in a rare move to defend its phone and text-message poll's integrity yesterday.
In an exclusive interview with USA Today, a representative for the third-party firm that tabulates the voting, Telescope Inc., said despite rumors and reports, the system hasn't been compromised by data-hacking "phreaks" or computerized phone dialers.
According to general manager Sandy King, on a national level the phone system has more than enough capacity to handle the votes cast within a short period each week.
The problem, King said, is that local exchanges not designed for the quick surge of calls get clogged, resulting in busy signals. Votes making it through local pipelines connect to an AT&T network and are completed. "Only a certain number can be processed at the local level," King said.
