Launch of 'do-not-call' list rushed
Monday, June 2, 2003 Posted: 10:30 PM EDT (0230 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators are speeding up the launch of a national do-not-call list that will block many unwanted telemarketing calls.

The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that telephone registration for the free service will be available nationwide in early July, nearly two months earlier than originally planned.

The FTC plans to launch a Web site on July 1 so consumers can register online. Telephone registration in states west of the Mississippi River will begin at the same time. Nationwide registration should begin a week later.

Beginning in September, telemarketers will have to check the list every three months to determine who does not want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation. Consumers would be able to file complaints by phone or online to an automated system.

The government said consumers should see a decrease in telemarketing calls after it begins enforcing the do-not-call list in October.

More than two dozen states already have their own do-not-call lists or legislation pending that would create them. Most states plan to add their lists to the national registry, which will be financed by fees collected from telemarketers.

Telemarketers say the registry will devastate their industry and have sued the FTC on grounds the registry amounts to an unlawful restriction on free speech.

There are exceptions to the FTC's do-not-call protections.

A company may call someone on the list if that person has bought, leased or rented from the company within the past 18 months. Telemarketers also can call people if they have inquired about or applied for something from the company during the past three months.

Charities, surveys and calls on behalf of politicians also are exempt.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/U...index.html

I, for one, will be signing up for this!

they enacted this legislation in MN but, due to the loopholes in the law, it's not terribly effective. let's hope the federal version does more good

I'm all for it! Fuckin' A.

It's also a crime to email spam to people here in VA.

IceNine said:

I'm all about devastating this so called "industry" and I hope the FTC comes down hard on their shameless asses

XxAxX said:

co-sign

I registered for the MN list as soon as it was up...

it hasn't changed a thing...I still get 5-8 calls a day

grrrowl

Rudy said:

I'm with you... free speech only goes so far. Am I free to go to their house and fuck with them every day? I don't think so... they would get a restraining order or something.

Telemarketing is nothing but harassment.

Do not call lists have been a failure everywhere they have been tried.

Politicians love passing these laws even if they don't work because who isn't going to be in favor of the possibility of less sales calls.

This one isn't going to work either because companies that you work with are still allowed to call. The company that calls me the most is my credit car company and they still can.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 3 6:27:46 PDT 2003 by lovemachine]

Show me one person who actually WANTS telemarketers to call their house. All it amounts to is someone harassing you to buy their shit. It should be outlawed.

I'm concerned about the exceptions to the rule though, because some of the most frequent telemarketing calls I get are from the Phone company and my credit cards.

For example, I just recently told SBC to go fuck themselves, and under this law they would be free to keep calling my house begging me to come back to their service for a year and a half from now.

I guess something is better than nothing, but I think they need to pay close attention to any loopholes or exploits in this law because those telemarketers will jump on it.

There is actually a technology being developed for telemarketers to allow them to bypass being blocked by a resident. Many phone companies have a feature where you can block any unlisted or unavailable phone number from calling you. Your phone wont even ring in many cases. This new technology will allow them to basically spoof a legit phone number, so the call will go through. From what Ive been told they are also able to detect the signals sent by Telezappers and ignore it.

Tom said:

My Telezapper doesn't work very well anymore, so I can say that they can defeat them now.

I thought this already happened everywhere...

I signed up in March and have been on the list since April. I can finally sleep away Saturday mornings.

lovemachine said:

I haven't gotten any more calls...I'd say it's working thus far!

CarrieLee said:

I haven't heard of it happening here and I get a lot of calls from a bunch of dildos who want to sell me a lot of shit that I don't want... usually it is some asshole talking about switching phone service or something.

It's the same in the UK, I have to confess that I have a telesales department working for me although this is business to business and we can be fined up to £20000 GBP for calling someone on the do not call register
[This message was edited Tue Jun 3 8:06:36 PDT 2003 by mdiver]

I have been on the no call list for about 7 months now... Heavenly..

POOK said:

That is a good question, my simian colleague. They should have to pay us.

Okay... who is the zero-voter on this innocuous topic?

:LOL:

IceNine said:

THERE SOMEONE VOTING ZERO STAR ON LOT OF THREAD

POOK THINK YOUR MYSTERY VOTER BACK!

OH NO!

START MORE THREAD NOW!

POOK said:

:LOL:

The phantom voter can only do it once per IP now though!

:LOL:

I'm so excited about this!

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[This message was edited Tue Jun 3 9:47:51 PDT 2003 by lilJ]