Slashdot Mirror
National Do Not Call List Opens for Registrations
prockcore writes "The National Do Not Call Registry is up and running. Sign up so most telemarketers cannot call you starting October 1st. There are exemptions though, like for charities and political organizations." Note that many of the states which have opened their own registries will be sharing that data with the national list, so you may not have to re-register - check and see what your state is doing.
I'm not particularly pleased that the US government now has a growing database tying email addresses to phone numbers.
(for those that didn't bother to read it, they require a valid email address to register your phone number online)
I guess I'll be creating a throw-away yahoo or hotmail address for this...
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
already slashdooted and no posts, i love the gov'
Wow, slashdotted before the article was even posted to non-subscribers...
I think this is a new record: Slashdotted in negative 37 seconds
But seriously, I like screwing with telemarketers heads too much to put my number on this list anyway.
I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
-Xenocrates
The site has been heavy hit all day ... even before the coming slashdotting!
KARMA TAG! You're it.
All I can say is Thank God! More than a simple annoyance in our home lives, the telemarketing industry is a severe drain on the resources of this country. Much like the bureaucracies of Europe (not to mention Canada) which are so widely criticized, the US telemarking industry provides a means of artificial employment for innumerable workers in this country, with people attempting to sell unwanted products in vain, going from job to job as telemarketing franchises are born and die, contributing nothing to the actual economic output of the country. Goodbye telemarketing, and good riddance...
But, signing up now seems a bit absurd. It would be like giving the telemarketters three months time to use my number until then. I think that I might just wait until, oh say, October 1st.
and the Irishman took the fly in his hands and yelled, "spit it out!"
There are exemptions though, like for charities and political organizations.
Political organizations are exempt?
Shocking!
http://use.perl.org
Well not anything. Didn't they expect a barrel full of monkeys to hit this site the day it rolled out? It's not like the media has been talking about it for months now. Oy. Yea gov t! You rock... I hope the same committe that planned this one out wasn't a part of the budget or we're all be screwed and soon like.
Is there a national call list? I am lonely and would like to get more phone calls please.
America-centric? Slashdot? Nah.
Read the fucking FAQ? You? Nah.
this doesn't affect market researchers calling you. Don't get me wrong i'm not complaining, but it would be great if we could somehow get them under the umbrella.
Well, as they request your email address when registering your phone number, this sure looks like the spammer's attempt to gather another round of fresh addresses!
You can't register here, but much more info at: http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/
donotcall.gov ... does that imply I should not call on the government for anything, or does it mean I should not call the government on the stupid stuff it does. Either way, both are probably true...
Accentuate the positive, don't waste your mod points on the negative.
Here's my next question, where the hell is my http://donotemail.gov ???
Scum of the earth, scum of the earth.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
you can also call 888.382.1222, east of the Mississippi can call the same number after 7/7/03. Don't forget to ask if they want to switch to AT&T.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
http://www.donotcall.gov/Register/Reg.aspx
It is running microsoft's ASP.NET
Probably to an SQL Server backend.
Think it will keep up / stay up?
If it were done when 'tis done, then t'were well it were done quickly... MacBeth
when is this going to be applied in euroland?
According to C|NET the phone number will be 1-888-382-1222. My initial call to the number from my home line generated a "this will soon be available..." message and referred me to the website (which is not responding). :)
But I'm sure this won't be a popular service or anything....
Come play Moral Decay!
when I can sue the bastards???
Simply sign up for an AOL account. Or put a valid phone number in your Yahoo E-mail Account. Or you could even go so far as to fill out all of those "Enter to win a car" contests at the local Mall.
For those of you that are upset you have to submit your email address, I suggest either using a throwaway free account (hotmail, etc..) or generate some ftc only account on your mail server/system/host for this. I'm a bit upset that i've not received the e-mail confimation yet from their system, and I did have some concern about the "what ifs" of the registry were to become compromised. It would open up some interesting litigation on the telemarketers part against the FTC if they can't "trust the data". I wonder how long until someone can write an email bot that will confirm the registrations and submit every possible phone number to the do-not-call list. I suspect it wouldn't be too hard to do.
couldn't it also being adversely affected by overall I/O issues related to that worm sobig?
ed
This is all well and fine until the gov't decides it was not a good idea anymore or decides to stop enforcing it and now there is a very convent list for all telemarketers to use!!!!!!!!! After all they all get a copy to cross check with their list...
I can't wait to see companies buying time on charity organization's phone calls. Imagine this:
1) Company makes donation to charity
2) Charity promises to advertise company during charity's fund raising calls
3) Company claims donation on their taxes
4) ????
5) Profit!!! (or in the case of the charity: Non-Profit!!!!!)
If you had READ the information on the very FIRST page od the Donotcall.gov site, then you would know that after you sign up, they have up to 3 months to stop calling you. You if you sign up on Oct 1. They can continue to legally call you until Jan 1.
But I should have known you didn't do any reading, this is Slashdot of course.
Great Linux Site
You didn't actually expect them to set it up using anything more complicated than an MS-Access database on IIS did you?
Can you say: Server not responding?
Does slashdotting a US government server constitute terrorism?
*grins*
-Joe
Now, how about a national do-not-link list? For people who value their bandwidth, and don't particularly want to be linked to from high-traffic news sites?
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
You should check out Spam Gourmet instead of creating whole yahoo or hotmail accounts. It has worked really well for me.
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
Anyone know how the list will work? Is a raw list of numbers supplied to the telemarketers, or do they just submit numbers for approval and the committee says ok or no, it's on the list?
I suspect they'll just be getting a list of raw numbers. I fear this will quickly turn into a handy pre-made "call" list. There are too many exemptions to this national Do Not Call List. Anyone with "prior business" with you, surveys, political announcements, and most importantly the Insurance Industry! It's regulated by a different body and not subject to these rules.
Don't know about you, but every telemarketing call I get I ask "What are you selling?" They proceed to insist that they're not selling anything, this is just a survey. A few sentences later it becomes apparent what they really are selling.
seems like it has been slashdotted already. I tried to register, but couldn't register.
I saw the announcement on news.com this morning, so I registered then - at 6am, there was no problem. You have to give them a valid e-mail address because you have to confirm your request by going to the URL in the e-mail that you are sent within 72 hours.
-MDL
Happy meals fund terrorism
Submit it again in a few days, you still have your chances for the dupe.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
From the website:
If you register: June 27 - August 31, 2003
Most telemarketers must stop calling and you may file a complaint: After October 1, 2003
If you register: September 1, 2003 or after
Most telemarketers must stop calling and you may file a complaint: Three months after you register
So it looks like the best time to register would be in late August. After that, you're always going to have a three month period they can bug you.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
I always avoid the phone, I hate it.
even moreso, I hate having to answer the phone and then it isn't even anyone I know and they want me to listen to them.
and it is always obvious that they don't like what they are doing.
ugh - everything about it is awful.
but since I have moved, for whatever reason, there is no telemarketing here at all. probably b/c there is either a law against it, there is not enough return on investment, or the place is so small (about 65K people) that people would start to recognize the people on the phone ("Carl?! Is that you? Why you callin' me?!")
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
That's not his email address. sorry. ;)
bgates@hotmail.com?
http://use.perl.org
No. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most, but not all, telemarketing calls. Some businesses are exempt from the national registry and still can call you even if you place your number on it. Exempt businesses include:
* long-distance phone companies
* airlines
* banks and credit unions; and
* the business of insurance, to the extent that it is regulated by state law.
Uhm...yea the exempt list manages to get exempt just about 80% of all my telemarketing calls. woohoo! Not to mention the local paper (Times Dispatch) that calls every week, but manages to also tie in your subscription to a charity. I guess I'll go get a fake email addy and sign up anyway.
The funtionality seems fine, and that's all I _really_ care about, but why does it seem like this site was designed by a three year old?
But seriously, it seems somewhat counterproductive that the Fed do this _after_ so many states have set up local services. I meen this makes those registries useless.
SPAM
Tasty fresh donuts shipped fresh from Washington, DC overnight to your doorstep! (subsidized thanks to the new tax cut)
Don't forget to ask about our new "G Holes"!!!
My concern regarding this list is how it may be used by the exempt entities. All of these political and non-profit organizations are free to interrupt my dinnertime at will. What's to keep them from harvesting this uber-list to augment their dialing pool? I may just wind up with more telemarketing calls after I jump on this registry than I ever did before. Granted they'll be "for a good cause" but I prefer to choose my own causes, thank you very much!
This is a great way for charities and such to get numbers. As well as when the goovernment is sued by the telemarketing firms. They will have a better list than before.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
Forget /.'d, they are completely FUBAR'd... And to think that the Telemarketers thought that no one would sign up! That said, I think they're talking out the side of their mouths as I have received more telemarketing calls in the past two days than I've received in months - mostly those automated calls (that are actually illegal)... Even on my cell phone!
Maybe the FTC should have called Taco to ask for tips on building a site that could have actually handled the load?
I can't wait to sign up every phone # I'm associated with at home and work.... Hope those jerks have to go out and get real jobs...
I have had several ladies tell me that I was on their don't call list. How can one get this entry cleared?
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
"Hi. I am calling for Microsoft for Bush. Would you like to buy a copy of XP cookies for the Bush repurchase oops re-election campaign?"
As of 7am Fri. Jun 27, 2003, the reg page is unavailable...
/. was going to go at once...
Didn't know EVERYONE on
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
...the telemarketers DoS'ed the site first. Bastards!
So if charities, surveys, and political groups are exempt have we now created a national database of valid phone numbers for them to call? I new a guy that was an encyclopedia salesman. He always looked for houses with no solicitor signs. He said that their husbands put the signs up because she'd buy anything.
Exemptions also include long-distance phone companies and credit card companies. How did they get through?
Also, since the site is now slashdotted, I looked on cnn.com and noticed that registration using 1-888-382-1222 is available in states west of the Mississippi River, including Minnesota and Louisiana.
Adidas To Bring Back Sneakernet
i filled out their online form 2 hours before this slashdot story was posted, and i haven't gotten an email from them yet
;-)
is this in line with everyone else's experiences?
i'm not actually surprised, their site is hammered, i'm just wondering if i am the rule or the exception
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
He hates his job, but it pays him... They get around the do not call list because they're not "technically" telemarketing. They give away something for free. Free demonstrations. ;-) All that they do over the phone is try and get people to accept a free demonstration of some product. The sales people who go do the demo are the ones trying to sell stuff. I wonder if many other companies will be using techniques like this now?
This space for rent, inquire within.
A list of email addresses to make available to spammers so that they can do the right thing.
Sounds like a great idea...but something makes me feel there could be a fundamental problem with giving a list like that to spammers...hmmm....
Isn't there something inherently wrong about slashdotting a anti-telemarketing site? I'm all for it (well, against it depending on your pov) and I'm sure the news headlines will include "Federal do not call list swamped with over 3 million users in first 12 hours." Unfortunately its looking like about 4 of those 3 million users will actually be able to sign up.
Also, what's with the e-mail address requirement? Is that so people don't sign thier neighbors up to not get calls at dinnertime or something?
Karma: SELECT `karma` FROM `users` WHERE `userid`=138474;
For all of you complaining that they require a valid email address - If you're that concerned, you can just wait until July 7th when you can register by phone, rather than using the 'net...
;-)
Of course.. you'll have to speak to an actual human being.. but hey, you can't win 'em all
http://www.babysmasher.com
http://www.openingbands.com
So I hear about the donotcall.gov registry site and go there to register...
;)
Wait, wait, wait...
Man, must be alot of folks registering...
Or....
Damn you slashdot!!!
:wq!
billg@microsoft.com
with whoreabully violeNT greed/fear based MiSlesions.
that's you too robbIE. lookout bullow. many of US are weigh past pairannoyed buy now.
consult with yOUR creator. that's the spirit.
the daze of the evile wons is passing.
Nah, it's billg@microsoft.com - you might even get a form letter if you're lucky.
Join the Free Software Foundation
Telemarketing calls to mobile phones have been illegal for a long time, and consumers shouldn't have to worry about waiting until October 1st for scumbags to comply with existing law.
See FCC Complaint Page for information on how to file an FCC Form 475 online. I've done it several times, and it's satisfying to know how many fines I've precipitated. (There's a sidebar on that page that permits you to download a PDF version of their quarterly reports).
First, check this excerpt from the business FAQ:
... OK, so we've just created a new opt-in phonespam list. Nice.
"Some businesses are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, including:
* long-distance phone companies
* airlines
* banks and credit unions; and
* the business of insurance, to the extent that it is regulated by state law."
OK, so the biggest offender is exempt! Political parties, charities, religions are also exempt as are INTRAstate calls. So, essentially, everyone.
Also note that there is a 3 month lag from when you register until when your entry must take effect
Maybe if we didn't have a coin-operated CONgress, we wouldn't have this crap.
AC
According to radio news the site this morning (before Slashdot) was registering 108 people per second, not a bad rate.
We have had an opt out system in the UK for a few years now and it does work. Snail Mail Spam http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/html/default.asp Telephone Spam http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tpsr/html/default.asp
----
Right? It's not some big secret or anything.
All call centers will become charities. "1% of your total purchase will go toward a worthy cause."
Only Now they have a list of phone numbers and email addresses to contact.
Someone above quoted the FAQ that lists the exempt industries. (He also left off the second part: "You may still receive calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship.")
I think it sucks too, but there's a reason for it: The Federal Trade commission is the one creating this list, and only those industries regulated by them are controllable by this list. For instance, phone companies are regulated by the FCC.
*&$% Congress should have plugged this hole by unifying a do-not-call across the various regulatory agencies.
You can bet that congressional campaigns were probably specifically exempted by the bill, though.
Design for Use, not Construction!
The only drawback here is that the list will improve business for phone companies. Since land lines will become less of an annoyance to people, they'll start using them again (I switched to cellular a long time ago). I hate all phone companies. Monopolies are evil.
Now where's the f**king DO NOT SPAM list for my email?
Most of the time, not-for-profit calls, polls (except those that try to sell things), and electorial calls are not covered by no-call lists.
I guess we're going to have to wait a few hours on this.
BTW, The e-mail address is so they can verify. You MUST respond to their e-mail within 72 hours or the registration is cancelled.
Next step, a national Do Not Email registry.
My office has been taken over by iPod people.
If your west of the Mississippi River, you can call 1-888-382-1222 today. The rest of the nation is open to it after 7/7
Also, sales calls from parties with "established business relationships" are usually exempt.
I personally do not care that they have my email address. To not be interrupted four times while sitting at my table for dinner is priceless. Besides - what makes you guys think that the government has no clue what your email address is??
Their Privacy Policy states: "If you contact us via the Internet, we also collect your email address to confirm your registration request. We will store your email address in a secure manner, separate from your telephone number. We will not share your email address with telemarketers." That's good enough for me.
Ayup
Exemptions:
- Charities
- Companies you have "done business with" (ie you bought something from them)
- Long Distance companies
- Insurance companies
- Banks (including credit card companies)
- Airlines
- Political fundraisers
- Overseas telemarketers
It's all Right here. In my opinion it's hardly worth registering. "Professional" telemarketing companies could become phone number resellers. Professional telemarketers would get the list from the do not call registry, then sell the list to private companies' in-house telemarketers. Since it's legal for most private companies to call you still, and they now have a list with your correct phone number, your calls may increase, not decrease.
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
This will pretty much guarantee that the US telemarketing industry will be outsourced overseas. Damn, now I have to compete with those lizards for fry cook positions at McDonalds, the only jobs left in the US.
..but we have telemarketing too :'(.
Oh yeah, i'll just add the 50th post to mention that theres a 3 month latency to getting your number blocked. I may repost this info again just for the sake of staying consistent with this thread.
...that server is going to vaporize into plasma cloud before the day is out.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
www.netcraft.com:
The site donotcall.gov is running Microsoft-IIS/5.0 on unknown.
nuff sed!
What exactly is the disadvantage that land-lines (which I would guess that 95% of the populace has ready-access to) would become less polluted with unsolicited phone calls? You mean that I will actually not be bothered every single time my cordless phone rings at me? You mean that when phone service becomes more popular thus stifling the rate-hikes necessary to sustain a telephone network causing prices to stabilize or gasp! drop a wee bit is a disadvantage?
Sheesh! I feel I need a reality check!
I can see that caller-ID would lose its shine for many customers. Of all the phone calls I receive (currently) about 7 out of 10 are unwanted calls. Out of those seven, they are either "out of area" calls or 1-800 numbers. I'll answer about three of those just to ask them to remove my number from their list.
Ayup
The equivalent in the UK is the telephone preference service.
You can sign up here. Use links from this page to set yourself up on the mailing preference service (door spam) the faxing preference service (fax spam) and email preference service (spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam).
All things in moderation; including moderation
All half-decent looking women already have me on their do-not-call-back list.
2 of the last 3 tech support calls I've placed (ReplayTV and Dell) have been routed overseas to India, which makes me wonder... Is there any good reason why telemarketing shops wouldn't begin setting themselves up the same way? IANAL, but as long as they actually called internationally rather than routing through a U.S. phone number, it sounds like an easy way to skirt these new U.S. regulations.
3000+ comments meta-modded. 0 mod points awarded.
Lesson for other meta-suckers: Don't believe the hype!
The do-not-call list is a nice idea, but it is going to be worthless due to some exceptions. For example, any company that can affiliate itself with a political or a charity organization is automatically allowed to contact you. That brings me to a question: why does the law allow for political and charity organizations to do telemarketing on the first place? If I want to donate money to a charity, I will do so without them telling me. If I want to support a politician and/or a party, I will do so upon my free will. Also, telemarketing companies will not give up their business easily; I suspect that we are going to face more spam in our inboxes and flyers in our mail. Moreover, by registering our numbers with the government we provide it with a list of valid phone numbers: expect more political soliciting. Unless there is a way to stop all unwated phone calls related to telemarketing/charity/politics people will not win.
It's kind of sad that they'll be going away, really. Oh how I'll miss that ever-present 10 second pause before they say hello. Or how they talk to my answering machine for a few minutes before they realize no one is there (with the general interest in telemarketing I could understand the confusion). And of course who can overlook the sheer amount of interesting stories they can provide a person.
For example like the time I answered the phone only to find a telemarketer in the midst of conversation with her "girlfrient" Brandy in the next cubicle. This one didn't even bother to say hello, just kept on talking. At least she was kind enough to eventually tell me to, "Hold on minute, will you?" Or perhaps the one time I kindly the told the telemarketer that I wasn't interested in their offer and he promptly told me to screw off in his own expletive-ridden way. My favorite, however, was the time I told one I was actually interested in their product just for kicks.
Sales Drone: "Excuse me, sir? Did you say you were interested?"
Me: "Yeah, that's right."
Sales Drone: "No one is ever interested, sir. I'm not even sure how to make a sale."
(Sets phone down and yells to his associates)
Sales Drone: "Anyone here ever make a sale before!?"
(Short pause)
Sales Drone: "I'm going to have to get you a manager. Can we call you back?"
Seriously, will anyone miss these people?
DigiSquid Design.
888-382-1222. Not sure if anyone has posted this below. I knew the number a couple days ago. Anyone else find it a little ironic that a telemarketing company is hosting the number?
I snagged a copy and emailed it on before it got posted to Slashdot:
.htm.
Tell Me More About the National Do Not Call Registry
Q: Why would I register my phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry?
A: The National Do Not Call Registry gives you an opportunity to limit the telemarketing calls you receive. On October 1, 2003, when the National Do Not Call Registry will be enforced, most telemarketers will be required to remove the numbers on the registry from their call lists.
Q: Who manages the National Do Not Call Registry?
A: The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency.
Q: Why was the National Do Not Call Registry created?
A: The registry was created to offer consumers a choice regarding telemarketing calls. The FTC's decision to create the National Do Not Call Registry was the culmination of a comprehensive, three year review of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, as well as the Commission's extensive experience enforcing the Rule over seven years. The FTC held numerous workshops, meetings and briefings to solicit feedback from interested parties and considered over 64,000 public comments, most of which favored creating the registry. You can review the entire record of the Rule review at www.ftc.gov/bcp/rulemaking/tsr/tsrrulemaking/index
How Does Registration Work?
Q: How soon after I register will I notice a reduction in calls?
A: If you register by August 31, 2003, you will start receiving fewer telemarketing calls by October 1, 2003. If you register after September 1, 2003, telemarketers covered by the National Do Not Call Registry will have up to three months from the date you register to stop calling you.
Q: I've already registered on my state's do not call list. Do I need to register on the National Do Not Call Registry?
A: The answer depends on where you live. Most of the 26 states will that currently have active do not call lists will transfer numbers from their lists to the National Do Not Call Registry. A few will not. You can find out which states are transferring their do not call lists to the National Do Not Call Registry at www.ftc.gov/donotcall. If you live in a state that is transferring its do not call list to the national registry, you do not need to re-register. On the other hand, if you live in a state that has its own do not call list, but the state is not transferring numbers to the National Registry, then you need to register your own number on the National Registry. If you are uncertain whether you are on a state do not call list and wish to limit your telemarketing contacts, you can register with the National Do Not Call Registry.
Q: When I register my phone number, how long until it shows up on the National Do Not Call Registry?
A: After you register, your phone number will be available for telemarketers to remove it from their call lists by the next day. Telemarketers will have up to three months to get your phone number and remove it from their call lists.
Q: How long does it take after I delete my phone number for it to be deleted from the National Do Not Call Registry?
A: After you delete your phone number, it will be removed from the National Do Not Call Registry by the next day. But telemarketers have up to three months to access information about your deletion and add your number back to their call lists, if they choose to.
Q: If I registered by phone, will I receive a confirmation?
A: No, but you can verify that your number is on the registry online or by calling the registry's toll-free number, 1-888-382-1222; for TTY, call 1-866-290-4236.
Q: I received a phone call from someone offering to put my name on the National Do Not Call Registry. Should I let them?
A: No. The FTC will not allow private companies or other such third parties to "pre-register" consumers for the National Do Not Call Registry. Web sites
My favourite technique I copied from Seinfeld...
Me: Hello
Them: Hi, I'm calling from annoyingSalesCompanyLtd and we're doing a survey in your blah blah...
Me: Oh I'm sorry I'm busy right now. Give me your number and I'll give you a call back when it's more convenient
Them: ar.. um we can't do that I'm afraid.
Me: Oh, I guess you don't want people calling you up every hour of the night and day do you
Them:__
Me: Well neither do I. Goodbye.
It's a classic and it works. Even if they do give you a number the onus is now on you to call them back and if they call you again (this has never happened) you can tell them in no uncertain terms that YOU were going to call THEM and they're very rude for ringing to hurry you along.
I used to 1471 (UK ringback no) them (US *69 I believe) but they're mostly unlisted numbers now. But when I could get their number, I'd take note of it and give them a ring whenever I had something I wanted to sell.
Any other techniques I could use. The more amusing the better.
Leave it to us Americans to turn 69 into something that you can't joke about, jeez...
Given that they are collecting this list purely for the sake of giving it out to telemarketers....
This is not a political statement. This is not legal advice. It's a frick'n Slasdot post. However: I'm Running For
Our state has fewer exemptions than the federal list and our state AG has assured us that if we remain listed on the state list and don't use the federal list, we should continue to receive a smaller number of calls. Has anyone else heard of this?
BTW: I recently moved and opted to get an unlisted phone number. It's great - no calls from solicitor's (yet).
You do realize that any product you buy will now have a clause stating that by buying or registering the product you also sign up to receive special offers from them, their affiliates and whomever else they sell your information to? Explicit permission can be given in many ways, but few of them are actually explicit.
Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
Hmmm. Won't they be angry?
Wouldn't it be easier for your to filter in whatever country you are interested in?
Damn!
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
... won't the telemarketing companies simply be able to move across the border and set up shop there? toronto's already a hotbed for telemarketing boiler rooms calling across canada and the states, this just might make things worse here.
Yup, I read it. It's a thing called Irony. I read slahdot a lot, and it's fine with me.
I say we take off and nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure...
If I'm already on the Missouri list and it's been nearly 100% successful, why would I need to be on the national list? Missouri isn't sharing it's data according to the site and I'm kind of glad because that would probably lead to "charities" from out of state calling me.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Yeah, but that's even worse! Then they'll have a *phone number* to link to my ph....oh. Nevermind.
Hey, is it just me or did we manage to /. the registration site? Their server seems to be curled up fetal on the bottom of the rack right now. Good job guys.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
I caught this on Good Morning America this morning. They interviewed the heads of some telemarketing companies about the registry. One guy actually said that they would have no problems selling stuff, because they would just start sending more email.
DOH!
--Insert catchy
I just had another thought.
/.er is probably thinking right now that it's less than ten billion total phone numbers (by the time you screen out non-US area codes, toll-free and service numbers it's probably on the order of 6 or 7 billion), a bunch of random domains and e-mails can be created to add EVERY SINGLE phone number to the list, and even automate the e-mail reply with a procmail line. (Actually, since business phone numbers aren't covered by the DNC list, it's probably less than 3 billion possible numbers.)
Some enterprising young
Don't.
No, really.
If the registry is a complete set of the US phone system, some telemarketer will sue claiming that there's false data in there, and that the majority of the people on the list never opted out.
They'll have to scrap the whole thing, and start over again with an even-more-invasive registration procedure.
Design for Use, not Construction!
Sweet, I was wondering what to do with my 1 Billion monkeys and computers. They really haven't produced anything of worth lately, "Blurst of times"? what the shit is that.
--- What
The loopholes are just too huge here.
Most of the phone spam I get is from my long distance phone company anyway bugging me to subscribe to their local service. I subscribe to their long distance services, thus rendering them exempt. Kind of the ultimate catch-22 isn't it?
I also hate that charities and politicians are exempt. The local blood bank has to be our second biggest abuser. Again, the law doesn't help here.
I'll stick with the tried and true practice of letting the answering machine pick up any phone call that comes up "Out of Area" on my caller id.
JoAnn
Apparantly the FTC has hired AT&T to run the call center that takes all the national do not call list phone calls. Talk about the fox gaurding the henhouse, are they going to ask if i want to swtich from MCI when I call to ask my number be removed from the list? (Hint: the answer is no, I dont want to switch)
My greatest concern here is that, if I submit my number to the Do-Not-Call list, a telemarketer who might otherwise not know my phone number will be able to harvest my phone number. This this fear unfounded, or is it addressed by the Do-Not-Call list policy?
As many have pointed out, telemarketing works. The problem isn't that people buy this crap. Humanity is what it is. We can not abandon the the small tail of the bell curve for the sake of those that fit under 2 deviations. As much as I would love to identify stupid people and exile them to a remote island. We all become elitist going in that direction. It's that we push this crap and encourage it in our "culture". Well... let's be honest. It is our culture. And therein lies our problem and thus the justification for forces to discourage telemarketing.
Telemarketers prey on the lowest common denominator of human behavior. Encouraging its widespread use acclimates larger percentages of our population as well as impressionable people.
Ex: I couldn't care less about them and their personal purchasing habits and what stupid things they choose to spend their money on (this also goes for personalities that gravitate toward telemarketing practices and what they sell). Only problem is I have to live next door to these idiots. Had I children, so would they. I fear the idea that my kids would would even be in the same country as their kids and start learning their habits just from even a casual observance (its far more than that with television. *sigh*). Obviously only a small example of the impacts. But you get the picture. To put it more simply...
There's overflow and trickle down from anything that's this prevalent in our society as telemarketing. And all the things your mind conjures up when you think of the word.
Isn't that scarey? You still want to continue saying that it's not your problem as long as you don't have to deal with it because you have practices and behaviors that limit your exposure? I get NO junk mail. My email address is a small mom/pop shop ISP unknown to any spammers. I have no land-line. My cell phone is older than the practice of telemarketing, doesn't even have block CallerID or Unlisted. I don't get bothered. But this problem and the direction it is taking in general still concerns me.
"Last one in is a rotten goblin!" - Kepp
bgates@microsoft.com
;)
That's not his email address. sorry.
That's okay. I just used steve@apple.com instead!
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
Everyone is talking about the exemptions. No-one is talking about the delay.
If you sign up before August 1st, telemarketers have to stop calling you in October. This suggests that telemarketers should/will use the list as a "call now" list during September. Similarly, if you sign up after Aug 1, they have three months to call you as many times as posible.
Yes there has to be some delay, but three months?
I'm not saying they will all do this, but I bet some will.
This is not a political statement. This is not legal advice. It's a frick'n Slasdot post. However: I'm Running For
I bet there are some websites that wish there was such a thing as a national do not /. list. I have seen some people post really nasty messages after a site was linked by /. staff. Such as this one. For about a week this website had a "F*** You /." message on it.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Think about this for a second, folks. You're helping the government compile a list that anyone but 'protected telemarketers' can call. The regular telemarketers have to grab the list, and weed the numbers out of their databases.
Now think about this. The government is supplying a list of telephone numbers. There exists 'protected telemarketers'. If you were a protected telemarketer, what would you do?
You got it. Download the list, and you've got yourself a database of active telephone nubmers to start calling. All for free. "Thanks for giving us your number, chump. Now me and my buddies can call all we want."
It's called HOTMAIL.
A little conspiracy theory if I may. My understanding is AT&T got the contract to build the site. According to NetCraft (http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=donotca ll.gov), it runs IIS. One of the largest telemarketers and the inventors of Unix chose IIS? I smell a setup!
Tune in later for more conspiracies.
Aside from those people who are concerned with the issue of the not-for-profit orgs getting your number?
So, I'm wondering. If a company outsources to a non-domestic telemarketing firm, do they have to follow the American no-call database?
I wonder how many people will actually DO THIS. Some people actually ENJOY getting "good deals" and such. Maybe it's the lonely housewives that enjoy the calls too. Who knows.
Then you've also got the people who don't even know about it. I've been tracking the "Do Not Call" list (and the related "Do Not Spam" list they've been talking about) for quite a while. In my experience, it's only been a small percentage of the population that actually knows about this. And then you have to actually CALL someone (or go to the site). Let's face it...people are lazy and they won't "have time" to do it. And there's my social commentary for the day.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
Until October 1, telemarketers are free to call without checking the "do not call" list.
You know that these marketing companies are going to be pressuring their clients to jump on their service before the deadline, to get the most bang. Expect a deluge of sales calls in September.
Since the FTC site is down, The Direct Marketing Association is offering a service that will take down your name, number, social security number, address, number of people living in your household, your annual income, and email address and will forward it on to the FTC database for you. They are offering this service for a limited time only for the low low price of $19.99 or two easy payments of $15.99.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
If you notice, their web site is running on Microsoft.NET, which cannot handle the slashdot effect very well... Of course, most servers can't but I thought I would make note of it.
http://www.askthevoid.com
What makes you think exempt organizations do not have my phone number already? The moment you sign up for your phone service, open a bank account, or anything that requires a phone number for contact - your phone number has been given out.
... well ... the Klez virus :) once your phone hits a list, it gets incorporated into the hive list. It's replicates and replicates until just about anyone who wants your phone number can have it.
It's like
I get plenty of phone calls from telemarketers and charity organizations. I cannot assume that the number of calls from charity organizations (not-for-profit) is going to go up drastically considering the already astounding number of calls I get right now.
I will however, enjoy cutting out the calls from companies trying to help me get out of debt, put vinyl siding on my brick house, or the other annoyances that the list will theoretically help to reduce.
Ayup
Offshore telemarketers and spammers from mining the do not call database? These people are scum anyways, and as long as they are not operating within the US, it seems to me that the US government has just handed them a bonafide list of valid phone and email addresses.
My rights don't need management.
If the telemarketers keep calling, obviously they're making money with the tactic - why is employing someone to make money for your company "artificial" if they're a telemarketer? Don't assume everyone reacts the same way to a telemarketer call... I've seen people stop and chat with those crazy religious folks on street corners.
~Berj
Theoretically, one could write a script that:
foreach $phonenumber (range of numbers)
create email alias for $phone number
sign up $phonenumber with donotcall.gov
reply to confirmation email via HTTP
end
then fire it off for your favorite range of
phone numbers (your local prefix, a random
prefix). You could vary the timings, maybe
add calls to reverse white pages to get the
names right...randomize where you
sign up the email addresses, etc.
Note that I'm just pointing out what is
*theoretically* possible...not advocating
that anyone actualy commit fraud to reduce
junk calls.
---eludom
Somehow there has to be a way I can get the telemarketers to pay me to not be on this list....think Optimoose, think!
796F75617265616E65726400
Next: National Do Not /. Registry
/. effect.
Their site is feeling the
Except that NOBODY wants telemarketers. There are some people that want Windows.
Obviously that doesn't matter any more than it doesn't matter that nobody wants spammers. They still do their thing because if they can just find ONE sucker in a million that will buy from them, they've hit the jackpot.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
So, basically, they've created this huge database of verified phone numbers which they're distributing to non-exempt businesses (which, considering the number of exemptions, means 'both of them').
Is this list readily accessible to anyone (say, politicians) who want to phone-spam their constituents? What about corporations that have exempt and non-exempt segments? Couldn't they apply for the list for their non-exempt businesses and give it to their exempt one? Will this really eliminate telemarketers, or increase the number exponentially?
Well like normal, Canada well be the last place to get a list of this type. Knowing our luck, all the telemarketers well move here formthe states. And instead of 2 calls at dinner, I well get 5.
maybe they should start a National Do Not Slashdot Registry
Wow! That's f'ing awesome news! Thanks for the post.
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
How long until they get around to doing this for email? Another 80-90 years?
I would recommend that anyone in Indiana just keep their number on the state's registry. Not only is that the recommendation of AG Steve Carter, but also of everyone I've talked to that is familiar with the federal legislation.
A state lawmaker friend of mine has told me that while Indiana's registry exempts only charities, newspapers, insurance agents, and realtors (and even he is suspicious about the last three - strong lobby?), the federal list exempts many groups, including long-distance phone companies, airlines, and insurance agencies.
In other words, the FTC did what it does best, appear to help consumers while pandering to corporate pressure.
It's using asp scripts *ack*...how secure is this thing? It's running IIS 5 according to netcraft. I'm leary of submitting private info to a windows box... :-/
/* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
There are two things that are going to happen from a DNC list. 1) The telemarketers are going to find some ingenious way to get around it, and the industry in general will remain status quo. 2) It will work and we will be blasted by some other annoying type of retail propoganda. We cannot win unless, as a whole, we stop allowing telemarketers to win. It is our fault that this is such a problem. Stop buying things from companies that use telemarketing as marketing. If the phone company calls you, tell them you want to be removed from their service. If your credit card company back solicits you, cancel the card ON THAT PHONE CALL. Telemarketing is a problem because it works.
Apparently word gets out quickly. Either Fox News or CNN (just channel flipping, wasn't sure which it was) is reporting that the registry is receiving 108 entries per second.
The exempt business list includes:
- long-distance phone companies
- airlines
- banks and credit unions
- the business of insurance
- political organizations
- charities
- telephone surveyors
These are the EXACT people that I want to STOP CALLING ME with sales pitches!!!Again I ask the question, "Why are there ANY exempt businesses on this list???"
What I really want is a law that forbids ALL telemarkerters from calling before noon on the weekends! When someone wakes me up at 8AM on a Saturday my chances of buying anything from them is ZERO!
I have enjoyed all aspects of online government. Paying property taxes online, renewing registrations, and handling many aspects of multiple moves. Judging by the slow Do Not Call site, other people are taking advantage of this today.
I wonder what voting turnout would be like if it were this easy. What other ways can I interact with my government online?
Telemarketing is a vital part of our economy, and generates billions and billions of dollars per year in real revenues which feed families.
You are severely misinformed.
Do you really think they have *NO* way to find out that information?
-- Leeeter than leet
If they make a donation and receive advertising time, the donation is no longer exempt. Donations have to be donations to be tax deductible - meaning you can't get anything (other than an item of token value, say, $8 or less) in return.
paintball
Does anyone else see the possibility of getting a ton of calls from telemarketers just before the cutoff date? I'm thinking of just unplugging my phone during the month of September just to be safe.
There has been much discussion about whether it's worth it to shut off your land line and go totally cellular or to just put up with the telemarketers. I think there's a relatively simple solution most people are overlooking...turn off your ringers.
Giving up my land line wouldn't really be an option for me, my cablebox uses it, my home burglar/fire alarm uses it, TiVO uses it, and ADSL uses it so giving it up really isn't an option. A couple other posts mentioned services, pizza guys and UPS, who specifically require a land line for confirmation. So, I kept my phone line and only turn on the ringer when I are specifically expecting a call on that line, the rest of the time the ringer is off and anyone who wants to reach us uses our cell numbers.
This way I have the best of both worlds, all my equipment that needs a phone line has one, we can talk to our family and friends whenever we want, and telemarketers get endless ringing that we never hear.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -RAH
My state list was $6 per year, rather than $4 per month, and it works. The Federal list is free.
The bummer I have experience with the caller-ID system like the one you are using is that the digital phone system here at work does dot provide caller-ID data on outgoing calls, so my Mom, who uses caller-ID, doesn't answer the phone when I call her from work, since I look like a telemarketer.
If the federal list works, you won't have to check caller-ID, you can just answer the phone.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
<html>
<head>
<title>National Do Not Call Registry</title>
<meta content="Microsoft Visual Studio 7.0" name="GENERATOR">
<meta name="keywords" content="National Do Not Call Registry, telemarketers, FTC, Mobile Phone, Home Phone, Registration, Do Not Call"
<meta content="C#" name="CODE_LANGUAGE">
<meta content="JavaScript" name="vs_defaultClientScript">
<meta content="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisens
<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href="css/style.css">
<script src="WebTrendScript.js" language="Javascript1.1"></script>
</head>
Which currently doesn't show up in Mozilla *at all*.
Now does Microsoft intentionally make their Visual Studio stuff (not to mention the latest PowerPoint, etc.) generate almost-HTML that don't display in Mozilla? You be the judge...
- "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men" -- Blue Oyster Cult, 'Godzilla'
Thank you! I hadn't heard of this particular one previously. I've been creating domains in dhs.org or dyndns.org, and then creating aliases on my mail server. This lets me disconnect mail addresses (and domains should it need to get drastic), but I generally like the Spam Gourmet concept better, and it doesn't require any mail server setup.
I guess the only comment I have is to use watch words, so some spammer doesn't register "haha.99.you@spamgourmet.com" or whatever. Sure, you can manually delete it, but they could keep creating new ones. Having a watchword (or prefix) that you change every once in a while solves this.
Good stuff. Thanks!
This post is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Telemarketing companies plan to move to Canada on Sept. 30th.
That is okay, I buy things with cash so they don't get my phone number.
If it really is something that I want to register and give a phone number on, then they only get one call out of it, because they are still required by law to not call you if you request it. So you just remove their permission the first time they call.
They will be shooting themselves in the foot if they give you an incentive NOT to register the product.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
Attention other telemarketing companies. Due to this nice individual, we have a certain way to challenge this business damaging law. We simply have to sign everyone up for the DNC list in case no evil hacker does it!
We've got 2 options here:
Black hat: Release a virus in to the wild that sets up a network, similar to a DDOS network. Then send a list of targets to one machine and have it split the list and send the majority of it to other servant machines it has infected, who split the list, etc. Then each machine registers its section of the phone list using free email accounts and spoofed ips.
White hat: Same as black hat except the client is downloaded by everyone who wants to support the telemarketing industry. The client would work like the seti@home client, getting lists of phone numbers in chunks to register.
Black hat is definitely the way to go since the whole idea is to not be traced so we can get the whole list thrown out in court!
So lets work together to develop this virus and sign everyone up for the do not call list! Thanks unfortunateson for the wonderful idea, we shall all call you to thank you and offer you wonderful free vacations to time shares and send emails about how to enlarge your penis.
Anonymous Telemarketer
...have modded you down.
Be more worried about providing them your name.
I don't want to give away what I used, but when my state came out with its list about two or three years ago, I used a generic term that conveyed what I wanted to convey.
The telemarketers don't call anymore. The only annoyance now is the rare charity that makes the mistake of calling, or the business that requires a face to face meeting to sign the contract to complete the sale, who is exempt from the law. They call once, and generally don't call again.
There's only a couple of companies calling now, one that uses an automated dialer telling me that I've won a radio contest, and includes a sales pitch, and another with a sales pitch that if you say "yes" connects you to a carpet cleaning company, or carpet installing company, or something like that. About once a year. I haven't nailed them yet, but I will eventually if they keep calling.
The last ones I'm going to nail are the non-profit org that keeps calling about fixing my credit. They call my cell phone, and leave a long computer generated message on the voicemail. Their mistake is that they supply an 800 number. Haven't abused it yet, but that's on the list next time they call.
Think about it, and you can get your phone number on that list without actually giving them your name, and without it getting thrown out for its blatency.
How about starting a slashdot article on spam messages that include 800 numbers? I have some 800 numbers from spammers that I'd love to list.
or is anyone else a little paranoid about putting their phone number on a list available to all the telemarketers? I wonder how well this will be enforced.
Search me
I've not gone on the website yet (/.'d) so maybe they have the answer. All the same, maybe someone here knows the answer.
If the vast overwhelming majority of telemarketers block their phone number, how do I report violations?
Right now, the FCC requires all businesses to identify themselves on request, but it's kind of hard to enforce when all they got to do is hang up the phone and you don't know where the call came from.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to require businesses to not block thier caller ID and make private call rejection a free service.
just my thoughts....
A goal is a dream with a deadline
I take it that this service is for the USA, although the Slashdot article doesn't say so. The UK has had a similar system in operation for a while, and it works. (Gets rid of double-glazing salespeople anyway.)
It would be nice if Slashdot and its contributors recognized that the readership is global. It pisses me off when posts talk about "the government" or "the army" or "the constitution" or "the industry" as if no other country than the USA has these things, or could possible be of interest.
Are we allowed to slashdot a government server? Does the fact that I'm a slashdot user make me a cyberterrorist? Should I go hide in my bunker yet?
*whimper*
I have a girlfriend whose name doesn't end in
If a non-profit organization calls you, remember that the people they hire to do this crap read from scripts and are under orders to not hang up untill they try every angle on you. Take this opportunity to ask them what they are wearing. Tell them how much telemarketers turn you on. And above all feel free to scream wild orgasmic yulps as every offer they make gets you hotter and hotter....
-Cnik
Get an unlisted number. Don't give it out to companies, use your business line if you have to. Since most home telemarketers call at night they won't catch you (unless you work the night shift.) ;-) And I've never had them leaving messages. If I write a check and the clerk asks for a phone number, I either give them my work number or make one up. Usually the latter--I know the check is good so they DON'T need that information. Goes without saying--never have them print it on the check!
We very rarely get calls, we used to get calls for the previous owner of the number--mostly those geared for Hispanics as was the case. Since we don't speak Spanish they weren't interested in trying to hook us, apparently.
Being as I don't want to, by virtue of signing up, become fresh meat for every charity (legitimate or not) and political fundraiser (how nice of politicians to leave THAT loophole in), I'll pass, thanks.
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
Is anyone else finding this site ungodly slow. No suprise! A check with Netcraft shows it to be running IIS 5.0. Lord! Folks here have been trying all day to get in--only two of us have made it and we've both been stuck on the submission page for 30+ minutes. Probably running Moose-and-Squirrel SQLServer, too... Compared to how Apache handled the Starr Report, this is a great banner for Microsoft and it reads not ready for enterprise play.
"Love is a familiar; Love is a devil: there is no evil angel but Love." --William Shakespeare ('Love's Labors Lost')
Apparently, there are also problems if you try to use email addresses with "funny" characters, like +, % or &. (All of these are perfectly valid and useful characters, but they are rejected anyway.)
SPF support for most open source mail servers can be found at libspf2.
"The site www.donotcall.gov is running Microsoft-IIS/5.0 on unknown."
:P
they're prolly storing the phone numbers in an MS access database too
Now instead of wasting their time and money calling people who will never buy something from a telemarketer, they can focus their calls on the few thousand people who actually do buy something from them.
Maybe this brutal slashdotting will cure telemarketers of their delusion that most people like being called at home and informed about their great products and services.
It's slashdotted, is anyone running a mirror?
If it is like the way other groups try to twist their importance with lobbying, they include everything from the place that does their employees dry cleaning to the 7-11 where they might get a hot dog in their "economic impact". If all economists were layed head to feet in a line around the world...it would be a good thing :)
Well I'm the doctor and I say you're dead, so shut up and take it like a man!
To save you all some hassles when you're trying to figure out *why* you haven't gotten your emails...
Donotcall.gov has no MX records. No reverse DNS on any of their outbound mail boxes. And they obviously are not processing bounces/complaints/etc. since nothing on that netblock has port 25 open.
It's really sad because one of the guys from AT&T Government services posted in NANOG this week looking for advice on getting his emails through.
I disable sigs...do you?
The other nice point is that your address isn't in the files that the directory compilers sell to the snailmail marketers - which also helps, after a year or so.
Telemarketers realize now that they have a limited time before October 1 to call you. The National Do-Not-Call list (DNCL) is released to the telemarketers before Oct 1, and they can, completely legally, call you up to 13 times a day between the day the receive the DNCL and Oct 1. (13 times a day = once an hour from 8a -9p in your local timezone) I saw this in Wisconsin and in Massachusetts. The two weeks before the DNCL was enforced in Wisconsin, I received over 20 telemarketer calls a day, from 8am to 9 pm.
If you do not already receive a high volume of telemarketer calls, and you are intending on joining the national DNCL as a preventative measure, I recommend waiting until after the Oct 1 promulgation date to sign up.
"One touch of Darwin makes the whole world kin." George Bernard Shaw
Post it anonymously, you jackass!
I'll bet somehow the slashdot cannon could be considered a DoS attack. Thus slashdot just launched a DoS on the govt. I can't seem to recall taking down a federal machine before ;)
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
God I hope not. I am sure you don't want to fill out your phone number and e-mail address on a server you don't know.
The list doesn't take effect until October - those of you signing up now are giving the telemarketers a 'live one', to do with as they will for the next three months.
The marketers can get access to the list, with a FOIA request if no other way. Eventually they'll be required to posess this info.
The time to register is just before the August 31st deadline, and even then the telemarketers can use your number freely for a month thereafter.
Some knob from the house or senate was explaining the seniors perscription drug bill using a donut as an analogy...
I actually got a call from one that displayed the name and number on the caller ID.
It's Dish Satellite at 205-856-2417
When they call it's just a recorded sales pitch.
If it's a charity calling - I WILL NOT DONATE $$
If it's a politician - I WILL NOT VOTE FOR "IT"
If it's a pollster - I WILL LIE, LIE, LIE
If it's CowboyNeal, well, that's different.
And this makes it any different than them *already having my number* exactly how again?
sneakemail.com works well too. Have been using it for years.
AP - Redmond, WA
The national "Do Not Call List" website opened for business today promising the citizens of America freedom from dinnertime solicitations. Unfortunately, the server has come under massive attack from what can only be assumed to be terrorist telemarketing OSDN subordinates. The cell, identified by a cryptic symbol of a forward slash followed by a period have admitted responsibility for their actions, and continue to hammer the server.
A local anonymous CFO admitted that he himself has had trouble with this organization before, then excused himself to read his email from support@yahoo.com.
That's just because of the exchange rate. ;-)
Give life
http://sneakemail.com/
Your password has expired, please login to change it.
Complain and talk about how it isn't sufficient, but this definitely struck a nerve with folks thruoghout the country. As off 8:00 AM PST today - listening to NPR on the way to work - they were getting 100 registrations a second. for myself, I filed my DNC registration at 6:10 AM PST today.
I have confirmed Steve Ballmer's email to use is:
SteveBallmer@ceo.microsoft.com
I would guess slick willie's is billgates@ceo.microsoft.com.
-init0
Howard Dean won't be elected until next year.
I've fed it four phone numbers, and haven't gotten the confirmation e-mail yet, about four hours later.
Could Hotmail be eating them as junk mail?
Design for Use, not Construction!
In order for the FCC/FTC to enforce the do-not-call list, they are going to have to get complaints from us the consumer. When filing a complaint, the consumer must be able to report either the company name or telephone number that belongs to the telemarketer. Even though its the law that telemarketers need to provide this information up-front, often they don't. If the consumer doesn't know who to complain about, then how is the FCC/FTC going to impose fines on any telemarketer?
For some reason I doubt it... GO NERD POWER! =)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?gui d={EA0D3D28-499C-433E-AC18-24EC8BD8B929}&siteid=my yahoo&dist=myyahoo
;-(
answer to our problems: yahoo is BLOCKING THE EMAILS AS SPAM
i used a yahoo email address
is the irony not entirely painful?
good gad
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The reason that they want your email is to send you political spam. How much do you want to bet that when election time comes everybody is going to get an email from President Bush asking for his reelection? Remember that the Do Not Call list is exempt political calls like the one EVERYBODY got during election season from Bush asking you to elect Republicans. So, it isn't that far of a stretch to guess that we will get called AND spammed next.
Until the UN is the supreme ruler of the earth and adjoining planets, I guess all laws will be national.
As for US motives, with lower long distance rates, there has been an increase in companies outsourcing cold calling telemarketing to India, etc.. These companies, of course, have been draining the tax base used to support the US industrial military complex.
I think it is pretty much safe to assume that the reason behind the database is US protectionism...not concern for the consumer.
Wonder what they're going to do with that information connecting your email account to your phone number, and subsequently your address? The Ministry of Information has begun its culling...
man rtfm
Yes ... I think there will be some "call now before it's too late" campaigns by the telemarketers to drum up business.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned another sucky (and suspicious) thing about the do-not-call list. The list will be maintained by AT&T, who had the lowest bid for the FTC project. This is the same AT&T who has been #1 on the FCC's list of telemarketer complaints for 2001, 2002, and 2003 YTD. Maybe the FCC and FTC should have spoke with one another before the FTC gave AT&T the $3.5 million contract.
The FCC's data show that 5,714 consumer complaints were lodged against AT&T's telemarketing activities in 2001, 2002 and the first three months of 2003. That's 22 percent more than the number of complaints about MCI, AT&T's perennial Number 2.
"AT&T Will Run Do-Not-Call List: Fox Again Wins Henhouse Contract"
cpeterso
I get a few telemarketing calls a month on my business cel. Damned D&B database will sell you to anyone.
Considering that it wasn't slashdot that caused this site to be brought down, does this count as a slashdotting?
This sig no verb.
Thank you for contacting us regarding Unsolicited Commercial Email (henceforth referred to as UCE). We at the FTC are taking a hard look at UCE and expect to act on this issue very soon.... blah blah.
You know, I expected at the most I would get a form letter, but I hoped at least to get a form letter that had some remote relationship to what I wrote them about. Idiots.
Like others mentioned, telephone numbers are easily verified as valid through public information. E-Mail addresses are more difficult. Therefore, if you do not want to give out your e-mail address, don't use the web form and call the 888 number instead.
-
RosCo! Them Duke boys been submittin dupes aginn! Git em!
Everybody and their brother complains about unsolicited calls right? Well, if everyone "hates" them, how do they stay in business? Soundly like we have some "closet" shoppers here. BTW I live in Indiana and we have a state do not call list... IT ROCKS!!! I haven't recieved a call in like 2 years.
Checking my IE browser cache reveals a http URL with the numbers and e-mail stuck in. Seems like anyone with a network sniffer could be building a database as we speak !!
So much for the FTC's privacy policy which states :Here's what you should know about the security of the information you provide to us: We use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to protect the transmission of the information you submit to us when you use our secure online forms. The information you provide to us is stored securely.
Not trusting my own eyes, I called my local paper (washington post) and even tried those enlightened folks at Wired News, but I have not heard back if I am correct in my thinking that this data is indeed being sent in the clear...
I had a good experience with my state's Do Not Call list, so I decided to try the FTC site, donotcall.gov.
According to netcraft, this is a Microsoft IIS5 site. I was a tad skeptical about its ability to widthstand the volume.
Well, guess what? It's already down as of Friday night.
I'm sooo surprised.
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
YES!
due to the sheer volume, many major isp's have accidently flagged the confirmation mails as spam. Check your junk mail folders. More details are available at msnbc.com among places.
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers. Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 2
There are a lot of people on /. who complain that corporations run the govt. with lobby money. The don't call list is a clear counterexample to this principle. In this case, millions of voters hate telemarketers, and therefore, all the lobby money in the world isn't going to keep the don't call list from appearing. In the end, all the money in the world won't win an election if voters hate your policies. Lobby money only works on issues most voters don't care about, like DRM, DMCA, copyright extensions, etc. If you want laws changed, don't complain that you can't compete against corporate money. Instead, try to get a large number of people outraged at the law.
Vote for Pedro
I just got a new phone that has a 'Telezapper' feature. It plays the 'doo-dah-dee' tone that means 'this number has been disconnected or is no longer in service' every time you answer the phone.
Telemarketers almost never use direct dial systems, they have predictive dialers which automatically call large numbers of numbers, knowing that a lot of them will be answering machines, disconnected numbers, and non-answers. They only patch the call through to a salesperson when there's a live one on the other end. If the machine hears the 'doo-dah-dee' tone, they hang up and remove the number from the list.
For the first two weeks I had it, we still got the same amount of calls, but there would be no one there when we picked up. We've had it for about a month now, and our telemarkter call-volume has dropped 90 percent.
You don't even need a special product to do it, just record the tones onto the beginning of your answering machine message and let it screen your calls.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
How about a similar registry for those who don't want to receive SPAM?
Perhaps it would be easier if the people wanting to receive those calls would have to register, NOT the vast majority of the US population!
Or is this going to be the largest, easiest to access list of phone numbers and names?
It specifically states that you have to get the solicitors name and phone number to file a complaint. It's difficult to talk to a real supervisor at a telemarketing center, much less get someone who knows their name and the phone # they are using. So basically, if I put my name on the list I will get a net increase in calls, since currently noone has my cell # to try to sell me stuff on. And there will basically be nothing I can do about it, unless I get a name and phone #. I'll just wait and see how this pans out...
Will I have to give a phone number so they can call me and confirm it's really my email when I sign up on that one?
Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!
Actually what's going on is the mass emailing is setting off spam heuristics left and right. Yahoo is already blocking these emails globally. Oh the irony.
There's no rule that telemarketing can not be called from overseas or from Canada or Mexico
Congratulation to all the suckers that registered
It looks like I simply didn't wait the 3 decades for the webpage stuff to finish downloading -- either that or they've fixed something since. As of today, it works just fine.
- "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men" -- Blue Oyster Cult, 'Godzilla'