Slashdot Mirror
Do-Not-Call List Could Be Opened For Phone Spam
Wick_7654 submits a link to this story at the Chicago Sun-Times, which begins "The agency overseeing the national Do Not Call Registry is considering opening a loophole to allow companies to deliver 'pre-recorded message telemarketing.' The effort is being organized by Allen Hile of the FTC's division of marketing practice. Be sure to let the FTC know how you feel about it." The proposed change specifies that recorded calls would be allowed only when an "established business relationship" exists, but provisions like that tend to be stretched to absurdity.
The proposed change specifies that recorded calls would be allowed only when an "established business relationship" exists, but provisions like that tend to be stretched to absurdity.
.....Right? Who here can truely say that CAN-SPAM hasn't stopped all spam from reaching their inbox?! I give this provision the thumbs up!
Hey...it worked with CAN-SPAM, right?
</sarcasm>
Bugs are just features that have been fixed.
So, you've got a business relationship with me yet you don't know my number? Right...
Now your unlisted number, that you went ahead and put on the do-not-call list to protect yourself from callers who just selected numbers randomly, will be given to the telemarketers as a number that is fair game for them to call. Your tax maney at work.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
What the hell is going on over there? Has the entire USA become a free-for-all (big business that is) annoyfest? I'm on an European do-not-call-list and have recieved two calls in four or five years one was a mistake, that didn't help I reported them anyway.
The other was from a company I already do business with (I yelled at them anyway and moved my business to another company that don't anoy me at work). They used the pre-business loophole so I told them what my opinion was with that and talked to everyone I could reach in the company. I also reported them to the consumer ombudsman, since they are abusing their power grid monopoly in Oslo to justify pushing sales calls.
From an outside perspective, it seems like the only ones enjoying freedom in the US are big, bug business. They can trample the freedom of private citizens quite easely, it seems and bother them at will while the government drags its feet. And counts its money, I presume. We have the loophole too, but we are at least working on closing it, not opening it more.
You make the assumption that Caller ID can be relied on. Totally invalid assumption, but, not surprising coming from somebody that's trolling /. for free ipod pyramid scams. It's a strong indication of intelligence (or lack thereof), and just how much weight to put on an opinion.
I've found a very simple solution to this problem-I use cable internet and a cell phone. It is illegal to telemarket cell phones, and I've thus far not had it happen. I get a better deal on my cell then I would on landline service anyway (same cost, give or take 2 bucks, and no cost for long distance as a bonus.)
As a side note on the spam issue, I use a "throwaway" email address for public posting. I get little spam to it even, and absolutely none to my gmail account, which is given only to friends, family, etc.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
Thinking about this some more, /. already has a system where good karma buys you an extra mod point at time of post. A useful addition to that, sig lines that troll for pyramid schemes like freeipod should automagically buy you a -1 troll immediately at posting.
I have a better idea.. why not just leave the rules as they are, and offer an opt-in for people who are willing to recieve such calls? Oh wait, that would be nobody.
Not sure what others have experienced, but the number of telemarketing calls that I have recieved since signing up for the list, has dropped from 5-10 PER DAY to about one a week. The federal do-not-call list is one of the few really useful things that the government has done in as long as I can remember. Yes, I hear that telemarketers are rapidly losing jobs, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to care. It might have something to do with the fact that before the list, I had to shelve my answering machine, unless I wanted to come home to 20 minutes of advertising after a day of work.
I knew they'd find a way to screw it up.
There's a Starman, waiting in the sky / He'd like to come and meet us, but he hasn't got the time.
I hope these calm words will help.
--- Ban humanity.
Cool, sounds like a great system. Hopefully the person on the other line isn't using it as well :)
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
who get put on the list by friends and family? Grandma Miffy can't say no? Put her on the do no call list so she stops wasting her Social Security checks on junk.
Besides, with most call centers in India/Indonesia/Malaysia/etc, it becomes cost effective even with only a 1% or so return. When you're paying someone 35 cents/hr. to do phone calls, you don't need a lot of business.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
You know what would be a fantastic gadget to have? A device that you could connect between a landline wall socket and the phone and you have a nice big button on the device.
When you push that button, it would cut you off until you let go and emit a nice clean ear piercing 20Khz tone as powerfully as possible down the line.
That way when a telemarketer calls, speak softly so they listen up then press.
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
with damned prerecorded message, there is no one on the other line to tell "TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST!!". So they keep calling you.
If the call is not worth the labor of a real person to make the call, then it is not worth the labor of the consumer who must answer that call.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I've used this system before, and if you have the pager or cell number of those you want to call, then it works fine.
The annoying part is the emergency phonecalls that might come from something related to my kids. A school probably doesn't know I keep my ringer off and to call my pager first, and with a 911 extension so I know it's not just some number I don't recognize. Since the DNC list, I've been able to turn the ringer back on, and it's been nice.
My son is getting phone calls now, and I doubt his 1st grade friends would want to page his dad to talk to him, so this is a good thing, and I'd hate telemarketers to turn my phone back into my inbox.
I am, and always will be, an idiot. Karma: Coma (mostly effected by
What a great way to make sure your ad is indeed, listened to.
If you hang up, you keep getting them because you didn't opt-out.
This is pretty ingenius on the part of the marketers, because to assert your opt-out rights, you have to listen to the whole ad at least once.
Target was offering 'free' wakeup calls for people on the the Day after Thanksgiving. I wonder if this creates a "prior business relationship?"
I bet it does.
My reply:
As a satisfied user of the Do-Not-Call list, I can point out a key flaw of the proposed change -- it benefits the corporation, not the individual. For too many years, any household with a telephone has been bombarded with an intolerable level of unwanted advertisement. The purpose of the telephone is communication. Communication is bidirectional. The Do-Not-Call list protects communication from being replaced by the one-sided soliloquy of the direct advertisement. Clearly, this does not benefit the companies which must now redirect their marketing efforts along other channels; the benefits are instead enjoyed by the public in general. It is the individual who must be protected, and it is the FTC's responsibility to do so. And the FTC has done so -- a strong defense has been given to the public. But a defense is only as strong as its weakest point. The danger of the proposed change is in its admission that it is perfectly acceptable for a company to violate the Do-Not-Call list barrier, by making a trivial modification to the method of transmission. The additional "requirement" of an established business relationship is completely irrelevent; such a proviso is mere fluff, as no possible method of enforcement is available.
The Do-Not-Call list is a powerful tool to rebalance the uses of the telephone. I strongly urge that it be allowed to remain strong, not gutted to serve the interests of corporations.
Unless it involves bombing a third-world nation somewhere, you probably shouldn't rely on a government run by George W. Bush to get something like this done right.
They have managed to get it right? Where?
Please, we are "people", not "consumers". You're using the language of the oppressors.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!