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Telemarketers Sue to Block Do-Not-Call List
chumpieboy writes "A story on Yahoo tells about about the DMA's attempts to stop a national DoNotCall list, essentially claiming that Opt Out is not a viable model for telemarketers. Yet they claim that Opt Out is a viable model for email marketing?"
[Medium Closeup: telemarketer dials]
[SFX: ringing phone]
[SFX: an audible click, followed by a recording]
[Slow zoom, from closeup to extreme closeup, onto a telephone or computer with exaggerated blinking lights to show activity]
Recorded voice: "Hi! You're reached my telephone number. If you'd like to agree to be charged up to $10/minute at my sole discretion, please hit the "1" key now! I don't charge my friends, but if you're wasting my time with an unsolicited sales call generated by a database, please be advised that your calls are valuable to me."
[Medium closeup: telemarketer, with can of soda in one hand, hangs up, frustrated]
[Extreme closeup: hand crushing soda can]
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Maybe they can successfully make the argument that opt-out lists like the proposed "Do Not Call" won't allow them to operate effectively. Bear with me here...
So, instead of a "Do Not Call" list being maintained that they have to honor, people will have to register for a "Do Call" list. This list will contain the phone numbers of people who have registered themselves as wanting telemarketing calls. This list is also the only list which telemarketers can use when calling people.
Okay, a pipe dream, but it surely would be a more manageable list, no?
I signed up for our state do not call list, and probably would for the national one too. But sometimes it is fun to hassle them.
My wife has been home with medical problems the past couple moths and gets tons of telemarketer calls. Last night she told me the next time one calls she is going to ask them if they want to talk to our hamster and just go off on a huge tangent about him. See how long she can keep talking about Bubba before they finally give up and hang up on her. That might be fun to listen too, I wish I could stay home for it.
My motto is: Never give up - unless it's harder than you want it to be.
The proposal cleared a crucial hurdle earlier Wednesday when a House of Representatives committee voted to give the FTC the power to collect fees from telemarketers to pay for the list.
So they're making them pay for it too?
Hot damn. If I ever meet an FTC member they're getting a hug.
How bad is this going to get?
I want to start a business where I send people bills in the mail that they must pay. Sure this is a stupid business model, but I want a law that makes it work, dammit!
Oh, and I'd better patent this business plan fast!
I wonder how many telemarketers are going to put their own numbers on the list. I think there should be a cluase in the law that prohibits telemarketers and their employees from being on the list.
When I get a telemarketing call I quietly ask who they are and why they are calling to make sure it is not a legitimate call. THEN I ask them if they know who they called and what number so as to make sure they know who to remove. THEN I SCREAM as loud an profanely as I can "DON'T EVER FUCKING CALL HERE AGAIN YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!!!!!!!" Then I slam the phone down. My goal is to make the person feel as bad as I possibly can and rethink thier career decision.
"Charities" are my favorite since the solicitor organisations that call you actually take 85% of the money or more. The stupid charity that loans thier name gets almost nothing.
RESULT: 1 telemarketing call on average a MONTH!
I refuse to hide behind my phone machine to "screen" calls. This means I have to give up services I PAID FOR. When I get a machine I usually don't leave a message so those that do that lose real calls. Besides the telemarketers just call back again.
"they are just doing thier jobs" some say, fine, so are burgulars....if you want to soft soap them, they will keep calling you...they don't call me!
I'm so scarred by the daily battles with spam that the whole thought of opting-out of anything repulses me... I feel like if I get on some DNC list that a bunch of offshore telemarketers will get their hands on that list so they have "live" targets.
My wife recently told me that she was clicking on an opt-out link on some bit of spam and I nearly tackled her out of her chair to keep her from doing it.
You can't let them know you're there! Pull the shades! Rip the phone out of the wall! Gag the dog!
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
I wholeheartedly concur with them, and fervently believe it should be an opt-in list. For telemarketers to call you, they should have to be able to prove to authorities that you are on the opt-in call list, which should be impossible for most people make themselves listed. If they are insane or something, and keep trying, it should require a 6 month waiting list, complete with psych evaluation and $1500 fees, and an in-person registration in DC, complete with 9 picture IDs, just to put your name on the list.
Any telemarketer violating this opt-in list, whether for commercial, charity, or survey purposes would be subject to life in a Mexican prison without parole. Then again, sending all our telemarketers to Mexico would probably be an act of war... my apologies to any mexicans reading this, I retract that last part.
in other news.... Linux advocates unveiled a new passthrough connection for Linux users that extends the common firewall set IPChains on to any in home phone line... Now you can specify Inbound and Outbound rules for phone calls, it now allows for certain phones in the house to allow incoming calls, and others only can place outgoing calls.....
guess I'm going to have to write out a module for IPChains for the phone....
...how long it will take till the telemarketers sue the manufacturer of the Telezapper, and claim it violates the DMCA...
The person who made that statement was fired for thinking out loud. Common sense will not be tolerated.
I had a roommate once that told the guy on the phone he was a little busy at the moment because he was masturbating. I've told people I was blind before so they wouldn't try to sell me some visual-oriented device.
"Sorry, I'm getting a blowjob right now, and my girlfriend is getting a little mad that I'm not paying attention to her. "
You can have a lot of fun with this.
-- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
I told him to place me on his "do not mug" list, but he didn't seem interested.
Would you like to stop recieving these phone calls? Send $29.95 plus $10 shipping and handling to...
--
the strongest word is still the word "free"
I got tired of telemarketers, so I devised this easy little plan.
1. When you get a live person on the phone talk very softly for a few seconds. (so they turn up the volume)
2. SCREEEAAAAAM!!! At the top of your lungs, yeah my throat hurt for a little bit
But after about 3-4 screaming sessions. The calls stopped. I don't know if this was a coincidence. But ti sure seemed to work, best of all it was FUN and FREE!!
Hopefully a dozen other forms of advertising.
Whale
This thread reminded me of a Seinfeld episode where Jerry gets a call at home from a telemarketer, it goes something like this (taken from this page):
"SEINFELD: (ANSWERING PHONE) Hello.
"(TELEMARKETER): Hi. Would you be interested in switching over to TMI long-distance service?
"SEINFELD: Oh, gee, I can't talk right now. Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you later?
"(A LONG PAUSE) (TELEMARKETER): Well, I'm sorry. We're not allowed to do that.
"SEINFELD: I guess you don't want people calling you at home.
"(TELEMARKETER): No.
"SEINFELD: Well, now you know how I feel."
I despise telemarketers. I also despise evangelicals. It's fun to use one against the other. Here's how my typical solicitation call goes:
...
[Telemarketer]: Good evening, sir! I'm calling from -insert company here- and we'd like to tell you about an amazing new offer on our new -insert product here-!
[Me]: Well, I'd certainly be interested in your -insert product here- but first, I'd like to talk to you about the Lord Jesus Christ(TM) and your future in the Kingdom of Heaven(TM).
[Telemarketer]: huh?
[Me]: Now, sir, are you absolutely sure that your soul will go to Heaven(TM) when you die?
[Telemarketer]: Um, well,
[Me]: Because, you know, Jesus(SM) died for your sins, and those who know Him(TM), I mean the True Him(TM) are guaranteed a place in God's(TM) Kingdom(TM) when the Rapture(TM) arrives.
[Telemarketer]: Well, I never, um...
[Me]: And it's a documented fact that the Bible(TM) guarantees that the children of Jehovah(TM) have a place in that Holy Domain(TM). Now sir, do you go to church regularly?
By this time, the telemarketer is so damn disturbed that s/he usually hangs up and I never get a call from them again.
I suppose you could use a telemarketer spiel on the Mormons(TM) and Jehovahs(TM) that come to your door, but they've stopped bugging me since I got my "No Bible Thimpers" sticker from darwinfish.com.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
Ahhh, Jay Nixon: the only Democrat I've ever voted for.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Who would be on it?
Alan Ralsky, for starters =)
-Berj
Yes, seeing Mark Spencer talk about Asterisk last weekend is one reason I was thinking of this :)
:)
:)
And (afaics) it wouldn't need a modem, really -- just a telephone interface. Mark demonstrated little USB adapters which can be used to interface a normal phone line to a computer for the purposes of attaching a standard phone or headset when you're making your VoIP calls
However, I am not certain about whether it works PC <--> USB dongle <--> outside connection, or only PC <--> USB dongle <--> deskside phone.
The "ex-girlfriend feature" he explained (if she called on her cell, her call was re-directed to her landline and vice versa) had the audience chortling
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Hmm. What are the chances that is illegal?
:)
I'm not disagreeing with you -- my mom used to keep a whistle at ever phone when I was a kid, and give a nice drawn out whistle to telemarketers.
The difference is the whistle she was using was a cheap plastic one, incapable of doing any long-term damage to ones eardrum.
I imagine a 110-120dB whistle could cause some long-term damage.
Besides, air horns are a lot more effective !
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
An Austin, Texas, man has filed a lawsuit against his employer, essentially claiming that showing up for work is not a viable model for increasing wealth rapidly. Prosecution recommends an immediate donation of $10 from all businesses in the metropolitan area into his private account, because it's just better that way. :-/
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
when dealing with spam phonecalls is to reply "Ah, could you just wait a second" as if I have something really urgent to do before racing back to hear their tripe. Then I put down the phone, walk away, and wonder how long they wait before giving up. It's slightly amusing and gets me over the frustration of people actively soliciting me in the privacy of my own home. Personally, I try to avoid advertising as much as I can.