Editing Pulse dialing (section)

==Switch-hook dialing==
As pulse dialing is achieved by interruption of the [[local loop]], it was possible to dial digits by rapidly tapping, i.e. depressing, the switch hook the corresponding number of times at approximately ten taps per second.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://bnrg.cs.berkeley.edu/~randy/Courses/CS39K.S13/anarchistcookbook2000.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://bnrg.cs.berkeley.edu/~randy/Courses/CS39K.S13/anarchistcookbook2000.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Anarchists Cookbook v2000 - BNRG|chapter=147.Phone Dial Locks -- How to Beat'em by The Jolly Roger|date=2000}}</ref> However, many telephone makers implemented a slow switch hook release to prevent rapid switching.

In the United Kingdom, it was once possible to make calls from [[payphone|coin-box phones]] by tapping the switch hook without depositing coins. Unlawfully obtaining a free telephone call was deemed a criminal offence, [[abstracting electricity]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abstracting electricity |work=Oxford Reference |access-date=6 October 2020 |url= https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095345117}}</ref> from the [[General Post Office]], which operated the telephone system, and several cases were prosecuted.

In popular culture, tapping was shown in the film ''[[Red Dragon (2002 film)|Red Dragon]]'' when prisoner [[Hannibal Lecter]] dialed out on a telephone without dialing mechanism. The technique was also used by the character Phantom Phreak in the film ''[[Hackers (film)|Hackers]]''.