Slashdot Mirror
160,000 Join Massachusetts Do-Not-Call List
MacAndrew writes "The Boston Globe reported that over 160,000 people signed up since the first of the year for the state's new do-not-call list, which imposes penalties as high as $5,500 per violation. Nonprofit and political calls are exempt. This list is being implemented well in advance of the proposed FTC national do-not-call list. Residents can sign up by mail, phone, or online. Mass. officials predict a third of the 3 million residential lines will enroll. Legal challenge from marketers appears likely, although the Direct Marketing Association helpfully lists state do-not-call registries. Click here for the DMA's side of the story."
Kind of reminds me of cops who illegally double park to go into the KrispyKream ;)
Link for the day
Congressman: A "do not call list," eh? My constituents will love this!
Aide: What about businesses that rely on telemarketing?
Congressman: Maybe if they can "persuade" me (nudge, nudge), I'll change my mind. Heh.
Aide: But sir! How will we drum up support for our re-election bid?
Congressman: Hmmm. Good point. Let's throw in a few exemptions for "political" campaigns.
Aide: Won't that make you look hypocritical?
Congressman: Nah, I just toss in "non-profit organizations" to deflect attention. It's a home run!
"The Federal Trade Commission is planning on creating a new "national do-not-call" list which could greatly diminish the number of potential call recipients. Should the federal government be in the business of tearing down this industry? Make your voices heard."
"tearing down this industry" I love it. When the "industry" is calling people in their homes and annoying them with your "amazing new offer," then I say yes! This summer, at my job, Verizon actually called us 3 times in the same day! Seriously. I liked my boss' approach. As soon as they started talking: "I can tell already that I don't want to talk to you." *click"
I think my favorite though is my friend who, when called by some bank being offered a credit card responded with something along the lines of: "That's great! This is just what I need right now. All 6 of my other cards are maxed out, and I had to take out a second mortgage on my house. I was really wondering what I was goign to do!" I think that they actually hung up on her.
Do not read this sig.
Really, to be fair to the telemarketers, we should acknowledge that there are many lonely people that enjoy the human contact of telemarketers... many consumers that welcome the valuable information that telemarketers give them... many Alzheimer's patients who are pleased to have someone remind them of all the time-share condos they had decided to buy and investments they had agreed to make.
So, Massachusetts should also set up a list at http://www.mass.gov/pleasecall where you could register your wish to have more telemarketers call you.
Indeed, they could set up an 800 number. Calling this number would AUTOMATICALLY add you to the calling lists of every telemarketer; then by following a simple menu-driven system you could selectively opt out of those you were not interested in.
The worldwide federation of unsolicted email has just provided a do-not-spam email list. The list will provide an easy way for spammers to check and see if your email address is on the list, so that you will not receive their wonderful deals! When asked if spammers would use the list to send you anonymous advertising, the federation replied, "Spammers are good honest citizens of society and would never do such a thing."
The futexes are also cursed!
someone probably once said, "it'll be a sad day when people exploit the openness of core internet protocols for commercial gain"
ostiguy
when telemarketers are such a great form of entertainment. When telemarketers call me, I don't just hang up- I prank them. I pretend to have a heart attack, or to kill someone, or ask them what they're wearing. Bonus points for the more you can scare/piss them off.
Hell, they're wasting my time by bugging me, providing a ource of amusement is the least they can do.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
All you out of staters /.ers get off the server!! I'm trying to sign up, dammit!!
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Something amusing: In Commonwealth English, the term "solicitor" refers to a lawyer. When I first visited the US, the airport had these annoucements about how you did not have to give money to solicitors, and the airport did not encourage their activities. I found this funny.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
i wouldn't do that....
i often ask if they are on salary on a commission based job...
if they are commission, i tell them that IF they were salary based i would sit and chat so they would have something to do, but since they are commissioned, they need to get another #$%@#% job.
and sometimes, i've chatted with people for so long, they get caught by their boss and fake chit chat...
Runnin' On Empty
Put two libertarians together, and you'll get three different opinions.
I often question the wisdom of the fact I moved from California to Indiana. For once, though, Indiana is ahead of California (since our list has been available for over a year and California's won't be active until April). Once we got on the "do not call" list, the rude, obnoxious, irritating, annoying and generally stupid telemarketing calls dropped from several pre day to zero.
We don't need a national policy since most states are smart enough to handle this on their own, but I'm very appreciative of its availability here.
My favorite trick (now obsolete without any such calls):
Hello?
Slight delay while the computer determines which of several dialed calls was answered.
HI! Can I speak to Bill ******?
May I ask who is calling?
This is Martha from CitiBank calling to let him know that he has already been preapproved for $XX Million in overdraft/fraud/collision/xxxx insurance, completely guaranteed by CitiBank!
Just a moment.
{
Put down the phone. Eat/surf/watch TV;
sleep(two minutes);
Hi Martha. Sorry for the delay. He'll be right there!;
} until {beep beep beep beep beep...)
Professional telemarketers are trained to respect people's right to say "no," hang up, or be permanently taken off of a calling list
Don't you ever say 'professional' and 'telemarketer' in the same sentence.
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
of the Corporate States of America...