Slashdot Mirror
429,000 Do-Not-Call Complaints
The Ghetto Imp writes "Is the do-not-call list working for you? According to CNN Money, there have been over 429,000 complaints filed with the FTC over do-not-call violations. The list is incredibly popular, with apparently some 62 million numbers registered. Apparently the worst offenders are the Credit Foundation of America, and our friends at AT&T. In an era where companies use computers to spam pre-recorded messages through our phone lines, does the FTC have the teeth to make unsolicited calls a thing of the past? At $11,000 per violation, let's hope so!"
At $11k per violation, assuming all of those are legit, that's over $4 billion in fines. Hopefully they stick it to 'em.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
OK, assuming for a moment that each of those complaints in a violation (which I know is a grand overestimation, but stay with me for a second), that makes almost 5 Billion dollars in fines. Where is this money going? Surely the FTC doesn't need 5 billion dollars (or even 1/10th of that) to run the Do-Not-Call list!
I tell you where it should be going: To the people who filed the complaints. If your complaint was valid...you were illegally called even though you were on the DNC list...you shoulc get a percentage of the fine. Otherwise this money just gets tossed into the great financial landfill that is the U.S. Government, and gets used for some god-only-knows pork barrel project that has nothing to do with telemarketing and consumer privacy.
Is to just not have a landline phone.
I have had *only* a cell phone for me and one for my wife for the last year, and it's worked great. We always have a phone with us when we need it, and I haven't had any solicitation calls. Oh, and for internet we use cable.
Flappinbooger isn't my real name
Even if they move to India, they still are subject to the law if they are calling into the USA -- though it would be harder to enforce.
Generally, they would be doing the telemarking for a company in the USA which would then have liability.
One thing that I found, is that if you ask for their telephone number they will either hang-up on you or tell you they don't have one.
Fight Spammers!
There's a BIG difference. The FCC isn't out to sell a product, and isn't doing this to maintain a monopoly.
Cry me a river. I think its great that the law makes things very difficult for telemarketers. Now we can kill off the few that remain. This is an industry that caused its own death due to relentless abuse of the public. Had they made a good faith effort to not call people who requested to not be called, these regulations would not have been necessary.
Shame? Hey, here's a newsflash - I was a developer. I was given a set of fairly challenging requirements (respose time, interfacing to a Rockwall predictive dialer, agent ease of use, updatability, etc) and some interesting hardware (Data General boxen running Informix Online v6 of all things).
You know what? I did my job. Which I was happy to have, and to be able to do. Which wasn't even the point of my post, which was pointing out that even back them ('92) you could get your number scrubbed from the lists of the ethical telemarketers). You want to crusade against people using the phone, be my guest. But no, I feel no shame for writing solid code for a legitimate business. Some of it was still being used years later, which I happen ti think was pretty cool. I guess that makes me that much worse, huh.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Ummm...except what they're doing is legal and traceable. It's a much different category and needs to be treated as such.
The question is, did you TELL AAA that is why you canceled?
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
I don't think honest charities use telemarketing, because the success rate is too low for them to afford it. The only ones that can afford to use this unsuccessful form of solicitation are the barely legal charities that give only about 20% of donations to the actual cause they claim to represent. This is why I hang up on all telemarketers, "charity" or not.
I had heard that you had to say "put me on your do not call list"; merely "take me off our list" took you off that list but didn't prevent them from calling via a "different" list. That may be what a sibling post was getting it.
I dunno if it's true or not; I probably got it off the internet and that's a pretty unreliable source. But I had also found that "take me off your list" dramatically reduced telemarketing calls even before the do-not-call list (which has cut them to almost nil.)
Sheesh, what do you have to lose? Who the fuck cares what happens to them?
Those police charities are invariably scams. I would report them, if I were you.
Anyway, I am kind of saddened that they included so many loopholes. An individual should have the option of blocking campaign calls and charities. If they do not want to recieve the call, they probably won't give to a telemarketing charity, anyway.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
This shit isn't going to go away. How long before I get just as much bullshit on my cell phone as I do in my Inbox?
"It would be cool to give people I know a 3 digit DTMF code or somethign to enter while the phone is ringing so I would know it's someone I know, and not some fucking telemarketer", He said, popping the back off his cell phone.....
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
true, but, as the article says, only about 1 in 100 people call to complain. that brings the figures up to 42,900,000. no matter how stupid people are not to call, that's a much more significant number.
-ninjaneer
While I give to charities, it's annoying to have (literally) 10 to 15 different Police charities calling every month (among others).
This is why I don't give to charities.
I did once. Last Christmas, we put a bunch of goodies in a shoe box to send to a poor child in Africa. Gave it to a company that was collecting them along with a check to cover postage and such.
In the six months since, I've received half a dozen letters from them begging for more money. Forget it; I'm not doing it anymore. If I can't just donate from time to time without being harassed for the rest of me life then I won't donate at all.
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
[ring][ring]
Them: "Hi, I'm Tyrone, and I'm calling from the $Police_Fire_Charity. Did you know that $Police_Fire personnel are great guys and don't any benefits at all? How would you like to help?"
Me: "Well, Tyrone, I've already donated this year, three times so far and I plan to give again in the fall."
Them: "Mr. $Mispronounced_Lastname, you've been giving to one of those other charities. We represent the real $Policy_Fire_Charity -- how about helping us out with $20?"
Me: "No, no, I'm positive I've donated three times already. I even have the cancelled checks. Let's see here, this big one's made out to "Hennepin County", the other to "Minnesota Revenue Service" and the third and largest to "Internal Revenue Service." I'm sure that all of those donations cover all the money I'm giving to law enforcement."
The rest boils down to an amusing argument with the high school dropout on the other end of the line about whose benefits are better, his (none), mine, or the cops. I'm actually pretty sure mine are better than both, but the cops around here sure get to retire on a nice pension before I do.
Caller: Hi, I'm from the Police Malevolency Association and I'm calling on beh....
Me: Oh, wait a minute, I signed up to the do not call list.
Caller: Yes, but that doesn't apply to charities like us.
Me: Hmmm. But the reason I signed up on a do not call list was that I don't want to be called by telemarketers. Do you think it makes a difference to me what sort of telemarketer you are?
Caller: But... click!
Haven't heard back from them since. It's been a while now.
Hollywood: The place good stories go to die.
Wait til you have an emergency and call the cops.
Let me check my list. Here you are. We called you last summer when we were raising money to buy gas for our patrol car, a 1993 Crown Vic, and you hung up on us. We'll be right over.
The Red Cross is even worse. My ex-girlfriend donated blood immediately after 9/11, in an attempt to help.
Since then, every 2-4 weeks she's gotten a phone call from them asking for more blood. She's even received two calls in the same night, despite telling them to take her off the list every single time. Saying that she's on medication did no good either.
I've thought about giving blood, but after seeing the harassment she went through, I won't without a damn good reason.