Slashdot Mirror

Anything which makes unwanted bells go off in my house by remote control is an invasion of my peace and quiet. Get some laws passed that allow the victim to hit #5 on their phone to charge the caller $5.00, then I'll be happy. If someone WANTS these calls, that's fine. Don't push #5. Most people don't want these calls and the victims should be able to instantly make these groups feel the pressure back in a big way.

Groups like The American Teleservices Association (rebranded to remove "Telemarketing" from their name) and The Direct Marketing Association talk U.S. Congressmen into passing laws which enable annoying, invasive and often fraudulent activities from this lowlife "industry". It's an industry to the extent that people get paid to ring bells in my house but jeez - earn a living some other way. Annoying everyone over the phone [I believe] is not an "industry" as the lobbyist associations claim. If there was money in ringing your doorbell and hitting people with buckets of paint ten times a day, I'm sure there would be a lobbyist group for that, too. Oh wait... that's PETA.

The FCCis in the process of making rules to protect consumers regarding cell phones and spam. On another related note: The American Teleservices Association filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the National Do Not Call Registry. If the Court takes the case, I do not believe that they will over turn the 10th Circuit's decision.

There is a task force made up of Federal and state law enforcement agencies addressing many of the concerns or problems that slashdotters have brought up today. I believe one of the most important aspects of this task force is not the prosecution of spammers, but rather the educational efforts by these agencies for consumers and businesses. On another note: The American Teleservices Association filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the National Do Not Call Registry. It the Court takes the case, I do not believe that they will over turn the 10th Circuit's decision.

We should all call the American Telemarketers Association (317-816-9336) to make sure they got the word.

In addition to calling them up, I rather like the idea of slashdotting their homepage (which, if you missed it earlier, is http://www.ataconnect.org/, just to make sure). I'm very happy to see that after I clicked the link about a minute ago, I've just now gotten the page title. I'm feeling like there should be a permanent link from slashdot to http://www.ataconnect.org/. That would be fun...

In addition to calling them up, I rather like the idea of slashdotting their homepage (which, if you missed it earlier, is http://www.ataconnect.org/, just to make sure). I'm very happy to see that after I clicked the link about a minute ago, I've just now gotten the page title. I'm feeling like there should be a permanent link from slashdot to http://www.ataconnect.org/. That would be fun...

• Follow the links into the site as deep as you can go. Maintain a list of all the links you find. Hit them all one-by-one and repeat. Not only drive up the bandwidth, but if you're lucky (not likely, but could happen) you will start hitting disk.
• Find every link to submit information (e-mail, feedback, etc.) and submit your two cents. In a very, very long way. With attachments... Matrix trailers perhaps? And multiple copies of the script of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (make sure you quote a line so as to make it relevant). This will certainly hit disk. Heat those puppies up, see if they invested in RAID.
• As another mentioned, fax them. Again, submit info (request to be removed from calling list, inform of a product you are selling, etc.) to make it relevant. But do it on black paper with white lettering. One letter per page. Hmm... how many pages can a fax be?

and here...you can find more people to blame for your delayed start to dinner.

The thing that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside is the fact that Dave Barry can handle a slashdotting no problem, but the ATAcrumbled under the power of a double force tag team slashdotting and barry-bashing.

What a great way to start the day!

Actually, it's not down...I got no errors so I kept waiting and eventually a page showed up at this site. It's amazing! They must be paying out the nose for bandwidth overage. According to netcraft, they're being hosted by Webhost, which runs apache on RH. Oh, wow, it looks like the WebHost AUP says no spamming! It's sad that they define it right there...So, I guess they actually do not get charged for extra bandwidth usage, from what I can see of WebHost's setup policies. Interesting to note that they offer win and linux/freebsd and the windows boxen are more expensive.

yeah, whoever posted this should have had thier url as the very first link in the story- /.'ers don't even read the topic before they start clicking the new links, but having to RTFA first- link is at the bottom- will prevent their site from getting the amount of traffic it truely deserves.

So, click here

Sorry for the bad formatting. Here again:
ATA Board of Directors (Google Cache)
ATA Staff (Google Cache)

Sorry for the bad formatting. Here again:
ATA Board of Directors (Google Cache)
ATA Staff (Google Cache)

Oy, my html skillz are pitiful... www.ataconnect.org/

Unless those 50 Million Americans want P2P trading of music.
Does this mean that the RIAA gives more money to political campaings than the ATA?
I'm not saying that using other peoples creative works without compensating them is right. But if 50 Million Americans can't be wrong shouldn't compulsary liscensing been more of a slam dunk?

<form>

action="http://www.ataconnect.org/cgi-bin/formmail /FormMail.pl"

<input TYPE="hidden" name="required" value="First_Name,Last_Name,Email">

<input type="hidden" name="env_report" value="REMOTE_ADDR,HTTP_USER_AGENT">

<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="bobf@ataconnect.org">

<disclaimer>

</disclaimer>

You can send them an email stating your point of view.

NOTE: A well reasoned, polite email will probably have a greater effect than an angry rant (if it has any effect at all).

If you bothered to follow the link from the comment above you would have seen that that page is on ATA's own site.

Being too lazy to read an article is one thing, I succumb to that all the time, but being too lazy to even roll your mouse over the link, that's pathetic.

If you bothered to follow the link from the comment above you would have seen that that page is on ATA's own site.

Being too lazy to read an article is one thing, I succumb to that all the time, but being too lazy to even roll your mouse over the link, that's pathetic.

Call the Chairman of the ATA at home!!!!!!!

Chairman:
Thomas Rocca, (770) 429-1956, 3840 Jiles Rd NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144

(provided by Google)

And their address is published at the bottom of their web site.

Perhaps they'd like some junk mail too.

American Teleservices Association

1666 K Street NW Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20006

877-779-3974

info@ataconnect.org

On their site, they list a new contact number:
(866) 500-4272
As others have pointed out, their old number has been disconnected.

--Quentin

This is less impressive than it might seem. Optima Direct is a business unit of the ad agency Rapp Collins Worldwide, which is in turn part of the Omnicom Group. Pat Sloan, the public affairs director of the Omnicom Group, can be reached at PublicAffairs@OmnicomGroup.com, or by phone at (212) 415-3600.

Optima Direct itself is a small office in Vienna, VA, near the Tyson's Corners mall just outside the Beltway.

• Optima Direct, Inc.
• 
  8100 Boone Blvd., 3rd Floor
  Vienna, Virginia 22182

  800-722-1725

  "Contact us at answers@optimadirect.com for more information.", they write.

They "are not a call center"; they contract work out to other call centers:

• "If you run a call center and are interested in joining the Optinet, please call Tina Minor at 703-918-9000 in order to complete a vendor profile."

So Optima Direct itself doesn't employ the armies staffing the phone banks. They outsource the dirty work.

Their "VP of Client Strategy", Jennifer Palus, is also an officer of the American Teleservices Association, the telemarketer's lobby. They're fighting the FTC's do-not-call list. ("FTC Votes to Eliminate 2 Million Jobs"). She can be reached at (703) 610-0450, or at jenniferp@optimadirect.com

This is less impressive than it might seem. Optima Direct is a business unit of the ad agency Rapp Collins Worldwide, which is in turn part of the Omnicom Group. Pat Sloan, the public affairs director of the Omnicom Group, can be reached at PublicAffairs@OmnicomGroup.com, or by phone at (212) 415-3600.

Optima Direct itself is a small office in Vienna, VA, near the Tyson's Corners mall just outside the Beltway.

• Optima Direct, Inc.
• 
  8100 Boone Blvd., 3rd Floor
  Vienna, Virginia 22182

  800-722-1725

  "Contact us at answers@optimadirect.com for more information.", they write.

They "are not a call center"; they contract work out to other call centers:

• "If you run a call center and are interested in joining the Optinet, please call Tina Minor at 703-918-9000 in order to complete a vendor profile."

So Optima Direct itself doesn't employ the armies staffing the phone banks. They outsource the dirty work.

Their "VP of Client Strategy", Jennifer Palus, is also an officer of the American Teleservices Association, the telemarketer's lobby. They're fighting the FTC's do-not-call list. ("FTC Votes to Eliminate 2 Million Jobs"). She can be reached at (703) 610-0450, or at jenniferp@optimadirect.com