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U.S. National Do-Not-Call Registry On the Way?
WinkyN writes "Yay! The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a measure that creates a national "do not call" list for telemarketers. Telemarketers are required to check the list every three months and can be fined up to $11,000 each time they violate the law. Now I won't have to ignore my telephone when it rings since more than 50 percent of my calls are from telemarketers." Congress is just getting around to passing a budget bill to run the government for fiscal year 2003 (started last October), and we're now in the time period when everything and the kitchen sink gets thrown into it just before it passes. Good to know that there's at least one useful piece of legislation.
I heard a conflicting report on the radio today about this (surprising!) They said this would be paid for by the telemarketers themselves, then said it would take $16 million to operate in the first year and no additional money was added to the budget for it. So either it's an "unfunded madate" for the FTC, or they intend to collect money from the telemarketing community very quickly.
Yeah, that thing screams false advertising. It sends no frequency over the telephone to delete your call. All it is is a recording that says the phone is disconnected. Have a friend mask his phone number from caller id, and then have him call. He'll hear it.
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
If you just interrupt the telemarketer with "Take me off your list", it'll take a week of calls... MAYBE two, and it'll ALL STOP.
I haven't gotten a telemarketing call in years.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
These amendments do not protect the harassment of someone intruding into your home or personal space.
NPR said this morning that it's NOT expected to pass the Senate.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
for a week to get money for rent one month. I may have stayed longer had I thought it in anyway ethical. The first thing you have to be aware is the close, they use information they know to be accurate, such as "To get you started, I just need to confirm your current address is " and if when you say that it is your current address, you're agreeing to the sale, now, they can't sign you up off of this, they have to record the offer, and you accepting it, but it's just a step to "confuse" the customer as they were telling me. Furthermore, they have to close the phone call by giving you a toll-free number, or possibly an email address or URL at which customer service can be reached. If they don't, all you have to do is call FCC and tell them the name of the company they were calling on behalf of, they'll do the rest and you'll get $500 of the fine (this is how I paid the rent the month after I quit) Another thing you can do is request their do-not-call policy, it's a document dictating all of their policies, it's just to irritate them. Just incase any of you were curious, I worked at Access Direct, in Ames, Iowa, and we were calling nationally on behalf of DirecTV.
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
For those who want to read the full text of the bill, it's H.R. 395. You can go to the Library of Congress's Thomas website to look it up but I've also pasted a copy here.
And for those who don't understand how laws work in the US, this just means that now it gets to go over to the Senate, who then may or may not approve it, who can then approve it with amendments, send it back to the House for further approval in a committee or two, and eventually send it off to the President to sign into law.
And this has little to do with H.J.Res. 2 which is the Omnibus Appropriations Bill that is currently in committee. Well, other than dealing with money.
AN ACT
To authorize the Federal Trade Commission to collect fees for the implementation and enforcement of a `do-not-call' registry, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Do-Not-Call Implementation Act'.
SEC. 2. TELEMARKETING SALES RULE; DO-NOT-CALL REGISTRY FEES.
The Federal Trade Commission may promulgate regulations establishing fees sufficient to implement and enforce the provisions relating to the `do-not-call' registry of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(iii)), promulgated under the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.). Such regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code. Fees may be collected pursuant to this section for fiscal years 2003 through 2007, and shall be deposited and credited as offsetting collections to the account, Federal Trade Commission--Salaries and Expenses, and shall remain available until expended. No amounts shall be collected as fees pursuant to this section for such fiscal years except to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts. Such amounts shall be available for expenditure only to offset the costs of activities and services related to the implementation and enforcement of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other activities resulting from such implementation and enforcement.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION DO-NOT-CALL REGULATIONS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall issue a final rule pursuant to the rulemaking proceeding that it began on September 18, 2002, under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. 227 et seq.). In issuing such rule, the Federal Communications Commission shall consult and coordinate with the Federal Trade Commission to maximize consistency with the rule promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (16 CFR 310.4(b)).
SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) REPORT ON REGULATORY COORDINATION- Within 45 days after the promulgation of a final rule by the Federal Communications Commission as required by section 3, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission shall each transmit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report which shall include--
(1) an analysis of the telemarketing rules promulgated by both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission;
(2) any inconsistencies between the rules promulgated by each such Commission and the effect of any such inconsistencies on consumers, and persons paying for access to the registry; and
(3) proposals to remedy any such inconsistencies.
(b) ANNUAL REPORT- For each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission shall each transmit an annual report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report which shall include--
(1) an analysis of the effectiveness of the `do-not-call' registry as a national registry;
(2) the number of consumers who have placed their telephone numbers on the registry;
(3) the number of persons paying fees for access to the registry and the amount of such fees;
(4) an analysis of the progress of coordinating the operation and enforcement of the `do-not-call' registry with similar registries established and maintained by the various States;
(5) an analysis of the progress of coordinating the operation and enforcement of the `do-not-call' registry with the enforcement activities of the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. 227 et seq.); and
(6) a review of the enforcement proceedings under the Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 CFR 310), in the case of the Federal Trade Commission, and under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. 227 et seq.), in the case of the Federal Communications Commission.
Passed the House of Representatives February 12, 2003.
Attest:
Clerk.
I knew I shouldn't have spent $40 buying that damn Telezapper.
Actually, you can get the same effect by simply whistling loudly into the phone when you answer it. Recently, after signing up for a credit card, I started getting all sorts of telemarketing calls. My caller ID would be filled with dozens of 'NO ID' on a daily basis. Instead of ingoring them, I started picking up and whistling loudly. In several other events, I just picked up and answered (followed by the routing delay). When they asked for me by name, I simply asked them to put me on their do not call list.
The calls subsided in less than two weeks.
The problem with this new law is that the US legislature is for sale. The politicians have squeezed every last drop out of the telemarketing industry prior to making this law. Now, they will have new ground to bargain with. Loopholes around this new law will be the next big cash cow.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Verizon has a service that will block incoming calls who's caller ID is marked private or out of area. It doesn't entirely block them however, it presents them with a message that they must leave their name and wait for me to accept the call.
I actually got this service because some automated computer system in another state had my number in it to automatically call to do some kind of batch processing (someone fat fingered the number obviously..). So every day, twice a day at exactly 10am and 3pm, I'd get a call with no answer. Since it was out of area, Verizon couldn't specifically block it (or so they told me), but they offered this service. For 5 bucks a month I figured what the hell, but I also noticed that now that I have the service in place, I never get telemarketing calls anymore.
It also has a feature if in case someone you know who regularually calls you has an out of area or private number can enter a simple 4 digit pin to automatically be put through without leaving a message and waiting for me to accept.
I've had the service for about 6 months now, and it's been worth the $5/mo I've paid for it. Maybe with this Do-Not-Call list I won't need it anymore provided this batch machine no longer calls my number anymore..I doubt it though, considering telemarketing companies will lobby to have some kind of end run around it..
..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
I wish this covered the problem with "utilities" you do subscribe to marketing more stuff to you.
For instance I have AT&T digital cable, however I get telemarketing calls from AT&T broadband which is a different subdivision in AT&T.
I started by yelling at the guy that he isn't supposed to Telemarket to Cell phone, since it is illegal, then he informed me that since I'm a Digital cable customer my contract gives them the right to. I then asked him to take me off of their call list, he informed me that because he is not part of the Digital Cable subdivision he doesn't have that authority. I hung up.
It's crap.
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
Most of the telemarketing calls I get are from so-called charities, and from politicians. There is no reason why this "don't call list" should exempt them; if I don't want these people harassing me, I should be able to tell them not to before they ever bother me.
http://www.equifax.com
http://www.experian.com
http://www.tuc.com
I should also note that once the list became active the number of calls I was receiving dropped down from 3 or 4 a day to less than 2 a week.
-- Point? None! Cob.
Not sure of how to contact your senator (or who he/she is)? United States Senate
I think people would benefit from an explanation of why telemarketers do what they do.
Why do they take so long to talk??
A telemarketer doesn't do any dialing. They sit at a dummy terminal and are presented with a contact's information as the contact picks up the phone. ie, they not only don't dial your number, they don't even hear the rings -- just you saying "LLO? HELLO???"
Why do they keep calling me? I already said no!
Each, I think it was called program or whatever (I only worked their for a few weeks, please forgive me) they call it lasts until the contacts are "exhausted." Exhausted doesn't mean everyone has been called, it means the sale rate drops below a certain percentage. When you call and say no, your name gets thrown at the end of the list. Right along side the people who had answering machines, the people who weren't home, and the people who said maybe later. You're going to be called until enough people stop saying "sure, I'll take one."
Why are they still calling me?? I said take me off your list!
It'll be done, just relax. When you do this, ask the name of their company and document it. I recommend keeping a little pad of paper with these things along with the time and date you request it. 6 months later, go ahead and talk to your lawyer.
I know THAT guy won't call me again!
That guy doesn't have a choice -- you'll either come up on his console randomly or you won't (most likely the latter; it'll be one of the other 10419 people he's sitting with). I'll encourage you to remember these are 14 year old kids trying to save up for a car when they turn 16, not the greedy businessmen that fabricated the annoyances. Sometimes that's not enough to curb the desire to be a dickhead, so also remember this: these 14 year olds don't care what you say to them. They're getting paid minimum wage to be there and make very little commision. They've been desensitised by 10000 callers before, and I guarentee you:
You aren't that clever.
Now, on with people's wit. Show me how great you got them, geniouses.
Whale
The guy you're looking for is Tom Mabe at http://www.tommabe.com. The blood on the carpet is one of the funniest things I've ever heard.
http://www.transunion.com/content/page.jsp?id=/pe
Here are instructions on how to stop credit card applications.
Opt-Out Contact Information
TransUnion wants to help companies give American consumers the choices they want. This choice includes the right to say, "No, thank you" to their offers.
If you want your name and address removed from mailing lists obtained from the main consumer credit reporting agencies -- TransUnion, Experian, Equifax, and Innovis -- call 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688), or write to the following address:
TransUnion LLC's Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS 39288-7328
Include the following information with your request:
* First, middle, and last names (including Jr., Sr., III)
* Current address
* Previous address (if you've moved in the last six months)
* Social Security number
* Date of birth
* Signature
"Telemarketers always use a script: why shouldn't you?"
Serious script
Fun script
I've been using Georgia's system for 3 years and receive, maybe, one a month. When I get the occasional call and tell them not to call again, I never get a second call from them. Nice system
Here is the home page for it. Keep it bookmarked!
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/donotcall/iTom the Sigless
You may be thinking of Jim Florentine who has appeared frequently on Stern's show. The name of the series is "Terrorizing Telemarketers" and there are 3 CDs out now. For more info:
http://www.jimflorentine.com/home.html
He also plays the "Special Ed" character on Crank Yankers.
Buy a house. Every mortgage refinancier, siding contractor, driveway sealer, etc. in the county will call twice a night.
We get about 75% marketing calls now. As a result, we never answer the phone without checking caller ID.
Non-profit orgs and businesses with whom you have a prior business relationship are exempted.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
We may not be out of the woods yet. The following link implies that the senate may be cutting off funding for the FTC's implementation (I.E. we'll pass it, make ourselves look like heroes, but not pay for it, thus effectively killing it).
Or at least that's my take on it, it's a bit hard to tell what's going on.
Article
VS
---- Go ahead, mod me down, I'll just post it again and you lose your mod points.
Yes, there is a system to opt-out in Canada, although it is limited to a volontary association of marketers.
a q. cfm
http://www.the-cma.org/consumer/donotcall/dnc_f
You know nothing of what it violates.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The Supreme Court as LONG held that commercial speech is NOT free speech. Your right to advertise does not supersede my right to be left alone and not be bothered by such advertisements.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Your right of free speech stops at my mailbox. The constitution does not give you the right to electronically barge your way (uninvited) into my home, demand the use of my equipment and ink and paper supplies to present your message, shifting all your selling costs to me without my permission or request. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (a bill by Hollings as well) has been enforced for over a decade. It has long held that junk faxes and prerecorded calls, among other practices are illegal. Every SINGLE case concerning the first amendments have been upheld by the federal courts. You are completely ignoring the fact that political, religious, and other such speech are exempted. As a result, you may fax anyone your ideas on political change or confirmation of christ and not run afoul of the law as long as there is no commercial purpose (you aren't selling Jesus dolls)Are you going to suggest that there is such a gross amount of negligence that all these federal judges in multiple federal districts are getting it wrong? Destination Ventures, Ltd. v. FCC, 46 F.3d 54, (9th Cir. 1995), and Moser v. FCC, 46 F.3d 970 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1161. See also Kenro, Inc. v. Fax Daily, Inc., 962 F. Supp. 1162 (S.D. Indiana 1997).
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Powers are still retained by the states. In fact some states have more strict laws. The TCPA was enabled to protect the consumer since states cannot easily do something that occurs outside it borders. Spam and telemarketing calls are going off shore, however the reason the TCPA and this bill still have teeth is that you can go after those on whose behalf the call is made. so unless the call and merchandise/serivce are BOTH offshore, you have a way to collect damages.
Cave, wreck, and deep diver.
The bill cites the "Telemarketing Sales Rule" from which I obtained the following definitions:
It doesn't look like someone conducting a survery falls under the definition of "telemarketer" because they aren't solicitng a purchase.
I'm a teacher, though, and NAL.
Ravi
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
Verizon's Call Intercept is the best damn $5/month I've ever spent.
No caller ID? You MUST record your name to get through. It has virtually stopped all telemarketers dead in their tracks.
Totally rocks!
(and no, I don't work for Verizon although I did work for NYNEX eons ago though...)
This totally works.
I actually wrote a letter to get on the Direct Marketing Association do-not-call list that exists right now. After about 2 months the number of calls was like a 1/4 of what they were. After that, I picked up every call and told them to put me on their do not call list. Oddly, almost every telemarketer that I said this to would politely say "OK, you can expect calls to cease within 3 weeks" or something like that.
I get about 1 call every couple of months now from a telemarketer, and it's usually from like the local paper or something. It's a huge relief.
Direct Marketing Association
1-888-777-3406
DMA Telephone Preference Service
P.O. Box 1559
Carmel, NY 10512
You might notice that before the recording starts, there are those 3 tones. That is what the telezapper sends, and that is what tells the telemarketer's computer that the number is disconnected.
"The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom" - George W Bush
IANAL
The first amendment is not violated on at least three counts:
1) Telemarketers are infringing upon my property rights by using my phone (which I own) in a manner not authorized by myself. This is by far the weakest of the three arguments, but it's still true. By being on the list, I am merely telling telemarketers that they may not use my property.
2) Their message is one purely of commerce, without any other value. Speech which is purely of commercial value is not protected speech.
3) Even if their speeches had socially redeeming value, there are many other protected avenues which can be utilized (such as snail mail, park gatherings, etc) to spread the same message. This is entirely irrelevant in this case, though, because purely commercial speech is not protected speech.
The 9th amemdment is not relevant in light of the first amendment not being violated.
The tenth amendment is not violated because this is the federal government regulating commerce. This is explicitly granted the federal government by the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3.
I agree with the others who have commented on this being one of the best laws (if not the only good law) passed by Congress in recent years.
We bought an answering machine 5 years ago. We told all our friends that we do NOT pick up the phone until we her their voice. Everyone understands the rules (even my 80 year old parents).
Every few days we clean out the "blank" messages on the machine.
Dave Barnes 5 breweries within 6 blocks of my house
I have been using my cell phone as my only phone for at least two years now, and I haven't received a single telemarketer call. I am fairly protective of my number, but I don't hoard it from the entire world as many of us do. One thing that may help is the fact that my cell phone has the (917) area code, which is New York's separate area code for mobile phones. This allows people to instantly indentify the number as mobile without having to check databases. What are the specific laws regarding mobile telemarketer calls? I tried to find detailed information, but have not yet seen it here.
You are confused. The telemarketers have to pay to get the list which means it will cost the taxpayers close to nothing.
Actually, IIRC, the Telezapper first plays the tri-tone that you get when you call a disconnected line (booo-dee-doop). Most autodialers 'know' not to add dead lines to their database, so over time, you get de-listed with the tele-spammers.
You can simulate this effect yourself for free by recording the tone ahead of your regular phone message. Google for sit.wav and you'll find a few live links that will let you d/l the tone. (SIT means status information tone, or some-such).
--AceyMan
-- Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
We've had a no call list here in missouri for a while. Its quite effective. Just thought I'd throw this in.
Yeah, that thing screams false advertising. It sends no frequency over the telephone to delete your call. All it is is a recording that says the phone is disconnected.
It doesn't do that on the version I own. That emits what sounds to the human ear as a single beep, which is apparently the three DTMF tones with very short duration.
The potential for false advertising is that this "tells" the dialer on the other end to remove the number. All it does is pretend to be a dead line, and a sane autodialer would remove such numbers from their queue.
The Telezapper worked great for us, but only for large, nationwide telemarketers. Small local shops that probably use a cheaper per-telemarketer autodialer (instead of a pooled dialer) zoom right past the tone.
I'm pretty sure that doesn't cut the legal mustard (at least in the U.S.). If my skim of the JunkBusters [junkbusters.com] site picked up the right info, once you tell them to put you on their do-not-call list they can't call you again for ten years or you can quite easily file some legal papers and get $500 per infringement out of the bastards.
From 64 CFR 64.1200:
Many people have mentioned going to the DMA and paying five dollars to the DMA to be placed on thier DNC list. Dont waste your money. Telemarketing companies update their lists quarterly, so time is not of the essence, really.
Instead, write to the following address (which i have memorized, having to read it to people every day at work)
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
PO Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
just provide them with the names, addresses, and phone numbers you want on their DNC lists. All for the cost of a stamp.
If you have some way of synthesizing tones, you can create your own version of the SIT tone. The one I got from the net was of poor quality and didn't have totally accurate frequencies. This site has a description of the tones and durations and what they indicate to the calling party. IMHO, the best combo is
Vacant Circuit: 985.1Hz for 380ms, 1370.6Hz for 274ms, and 1776.7Hz for 380ms
I heard that the Telezapper just sends the first tone, which is enough for the autodialers to recognize it as some sort of telco announcement. You must answer the phone fairly quickly though, because some dialers assume that the tone will come within a couple seconds after dialing is complete. If you take too long, it may already be connected to the call handler that's going to make the sales pitch.
Bishop (UT)
Ryan (OH)
Terry
Flake
Strickland
Paul
Tancredo
They're one of the 7 who voted no on the bill. Better give them a piece of your mind.
source:0 03&rollnumber=26
http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2
You might want to do a bit of research, but from what I recall there are some really stringent laws in the US about how a company must handle information about minors. If a company has sold or given out information on one of your kids, you may be able to nail them to a wall.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
$50 will get you a product called the Screen Machine. It intercepts every call and informs solicitors to place your name and phone # on their do not call list. It then states that it is now a federal offense to make your phone ring. Non-solicitors are invited to press "5" and they pop right through. If ever a telemarketer pops through get their name & employee # and report them to their supervisor.