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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?"
"But telemarketers say 27 existing state do-not-call lists and a voluntary national list run by the Direct Marketing Association trade group should provide consumers enough protection."
I live in a State (CT) that has such a list but we still receive numerous unsoliticed calls and subsequent hangups when we inform them they've violated state law. Problem is that the state apparently doesn't have juristiction and/or not enough bandwidth to go after some of the out of state companies. I'm all for a Federal list.
buy a Telezapper or make your own with these tones. Simply put these on your answering machine before any speaking. The tones will play and will fool most of the remote machines into thinking you have a disconnected number.
Trolling is a art,
According to their (BS) argument, a required list would be too much trouble to use, even though they already "recommend" the use of their optional list to member companies.
Go sign up for the optional list now. And don't pay the $5 online fee . . . you can do it by mail for free.
Actually the state DNC lists ARE effective because by doing a substantial ammount of business in the states in questions the telemarketers have opened themselves to regulation. Trust me my brother and friend both work as analysts for telemarketing firms and they are VERY sure to make sure no one from a DNC list is called. The DNC lists do have teeth, and even if they didn't it would be futile to call on anyone on the lists because they have already stated their intention not to patronize telemarketers.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
What you want is the asterisk pbx system.
http://www.asteriskpbx.org
Write your own AGI script that takes into account things like time of day, ringing caller id, etc etc.
If every handset in your house is an asterisk extension, and asterisk is the only telco-facing system, you will have 100% control of when your phones ring (and how, as asterisk will send any ring-pattern you want)
For legal reasons, you may want to have one other traditional phone plugged into the telco-facing network, with its ringer permanantly off. That way in the event of a PBX failure, you can still dial 911, but the phone will never ring.
I planned on doing this so my grandmother would _always_ go straight to voicemail, with no internal extensions ringing, whenever she tried to call me before noon.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
I'm not sure if it's the right number, but it could be a starting point ! Have fun
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
This is evidently not the case. Missouri AG Jay Nixon has collected a substantial amount of money from out-of-state telemarketers who violate the No Call Law.
http://www.ago.state.mo.us/nocalllaw.htm
"The guide is definitive, reality is frequently inaccurate."
The FTC and the DoJ would be their worst enemy. If a national DNC policy became official and it is violated, then it is within the fed's jurisdiction to prosecute. The FTC has teeth that the DMA fears.
The DMA wants to keep the status quo of separate state DNC lists because they know that states aren't as likely to come after their members as the feds would and they know that state resources are limited. But if a federal-funded office like the FTC were to get involved...
Ironic that a national organization sues to keep a national law-enforcing office from becoming involved, isn't it?
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10