http://www.donotcall.gov

The site is now up and running... hopefully it will do some good. At the very least, there will be a HUGE list of people who sign up for this and maybe the telemarketers out there will finally realize that it pisses more people off than they even know when they call and try to sell us shit that we never wanted or asked for.

thanks

<---signed up immediately

done it

teller said:

Me too.

done YO

The people who make the unsolicited calls are complaining that the government is destroying JOBS!

ROFL...fuck them...

I just signed up too and am waiting for a confirmation email.

Telemarketers be gone!

YES!!!

teller said:

can u imagine a more hideous job than being a telemarketer?

Let's all that it works.

Over 735,000 people signed up on the first day!!!




Do-Not-Call List Logs 735K Phone Numbers
By DAVID HO

WASHINGTON (AP) - Striking back against telemarketers for countless interrupted meals, the public poured an avalanche of discontent into the new national do-not-call list Friday, registering more than 735,000 phone numbers on the first day.

"They're a real pain in the neck," said Helen McKenna, 75, a retired writer from San Diego. "They don't mind if they interrupt your supper. Sometimes they call when I'm asleep."

McKenna tried to register for the free government service intended to block most telemarketing calls, but she couldn't access the program's Web site at www.donotcall.gov.

The Internet site responded slowly on the first day because of ``extraordinary amounts of traffic,'' the Federal Trade Commission said. The FTC, which launched the registry soon after midnight, said that at noon the Web site was being visited 1,000 times every second. The agency scrambled to add more computer equipment to handle the load.

Even more consumers registered by calling the toll-free number 1-888-382-1222, which is available in states west of the Mississippi River, including Minnesota and Louisiana. To ensure the system can handle the volume of calls, the number will not operate nationwide until July 7.

Slightly more than half of the phone numbers registered by Friday afternoon were done by phone, a system that ran smoothly, the FTC said.

``We expected a huge response and we've gotten it,'' said FTC spokeswoman Cathy MacFarlane. ``Consumers need to remember there's no urgency in registering. The registry has just opened and will continue to stay open.''

At a White House ceremony to inaugurate the registry, President Bush sympathized with people annoyed by unwanted calls.

``When Americans are sitting down to dinner or a parent is reading to his or her child, the last thing that they need is a call from a stranger with a sales pitch,'' Bush said.

People who sign up this summer should see a decrease in telemarketing calls after the FTC begins enforcing the list on Oct. 1. The service will block about 80 percent of the calls, the FTC said.

On the Web site, consumers provide the numbers they want protected and an e-mail address to receive a confirmation message. The site also lets them remove a number or verify that a number is registered.

Some confirmations sent to users of Yahoo e-mail were diverted to their junk mail folders by a filtering system that mistook the large volume of do-not-call messages for spam, said company spokeswoman Mary Osako. She said the company noticed the problem soon after the registry launched and corrected it within hours.

Consumers calling the toll-free number must call from the telephone number they want registered.

The commission expects up to 60 million phone numbers to be registered in the first year.

Registrations will have to be renewed every five years.

Telemarketers attempt up to 104 million calls every day, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

The industry has said the registry will devastate their business and has sued the FTC, saying the program amounts to an unlawful restriction on free speech.

McKenna, the retired writer, said she doesn't feel sorry for telemarketers and will try again to sign up to block them.

``Why feel any sympathy for them, taking part in something that annoys people?'' she said. ``That's the last job in the world that I'd take. I'd rather clean toilets than to do that to people.''

Of the states with do-not-call lists, 13 plan to add their lists of 8.1 million numbers to the national registry this summer, three have legislation pending to allow them to share, and 11 will not share the information, the FTC said. Consumers on state lists added to the national one need not register again.

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

Exemptions from the list include calls from charities, pollsters and on behalf of politicians. Registered consumers also can give written permission to get calls from certain companies.

A company also may call someone on the no-call list if that person has bought, leased or rented from the company within the past 18 months. Telemarketers also may call people if they have inquired about or applied for something from the company during the past three months.

Consumers can avoid those calls by asking to be put on an individual company's do-not-call list.

On the Net:

Do Not Call site: http://donotcall.gov

Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/

Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov

Direct Marketing Association: http://www.the-dma.org
[This message was edited Sat Jun 28 9:09:49 PDT 2003 by IceNine]

I'm so excited about this...I'm signing up NOW! Thanks!

I don't mean to thwart peoples happiness but the list doesn't really work as we have learned in Minnesota because of all the loopholes

Anyone you have worked with in the last 3 years is allowed to call you and this includes your credit card company and your insurance companies and the like which is where I get the majority of my calls from.

Also non-profit and people not actually selling anything (pollsters) are still allowed to call.


It's a good idea and politicians love passing laws like this as it makes them look great but if they are unwilling to remove the loopholes there really isn't much of a point.

The worst loophole of all is that calls on behalf of politicians are still legal

Damn, really? That sux!

lovemachine said:

as a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization, i am of course relieved that we are still able to call (we only call prior donors), since these are very difficult times for us financially. i hate to be lumped in with credit card companies and politicians, tho!

what the hell is this doing on page 2 already?