Slashdot Mirror
FTC Moves Forward With National Do-Not-Call List
netringer writes "The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is proposing some new regulations creating a national 'Do Not Call' list to keep US phones from being rung by telemarketers. Telemarketers who call a number on the list could be fined up $11,000. The new FTC rules also require that telemarketers have Caller ID enabled and limit abandoned 'hang up' calls from predictive dialers. The new rules have some loopholes, allowing calls from charities and businesses that have somehow gotten your permission or have done business with you before. The Direct Marketing Association is threatening to sue to save U.S. consumers from the potential loss of buying opportunities."
To admit this. I don't think legislation of this kind would be legal. That smacks of a violation of free speech. Just because you decide you hate to receive calls from one company, doesn't mean that should apply to all companies who market by phone.
I could see a service however, (not government sponsored or mandated) that would maintain a "Do not call database" for a small fee.
Craenor
Earlier this semester I'd called up prospective students, most of whom had signed up at a college fair or something, to talk with them (if they were still interested) about my college, answer any questions, etc. Almost universally they said that they remembered doing that, and then went on either to tell me they were no longer interested (in which case I told them I'd take them off the list and asked if they would tell me where they were now looking at instead, for our records -- almost everyone gave me a detailed list of where they were now looking, or in some cases had been accepted), or else to talk to me about the college, ask questions, etc.
How would this system affect "telemarketers" who get their numbers from something other than phone books. Every single time I've ever given out my phone number to any organization, it was with the understanding that I'd be willing to receive calls from that organization in the future, had enough interest that I'd say "hello" if they called and introduced themselves, and listened to what they had to say.
That's how opt-in works.
It's probably already illegal for such organizations to share my number (or should be), and if I were being terribly bothered by people calling me from the phone book, I'd have my number unlisted. (This is actually not much of a problem, in spite of my living in a large city.)
So, is it really necessary to have a do-not-call list, over it being necessary to have a "not legal to share opt-ins"? Basically, if it takes as much effort for me to opt-out of a single organization's list as it ever took me to opt-in (because there's no number-sharing), why is it bad to call people? What's the need for this national DNC list?
Thanks for posting that. The fact that someone has considered the legality of it, at least makes me think I'm not nuts.
Personally I'd be all for it, it was the legality of a government sponsored no call list that I found questionable.
Missouri in the house!
Yeah, it does cut down on the unsolicted stuff, but the fire department/policeman's ball/political groups are not considered to be telemarketers. Yet.
My grandma gets harassed daily by various organizations (give a single dollar to enviromentalism, you'll be hounded into the grave). I'm gonna persuade her to sign up, eventually.
If you're from MO, sign up. It's pretty nice.
-Brett