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Do-Not-Call Registry Coming to Canada
The Fred writes "The Globe and Mail reports that the Canadian federal government is looking to devise a national do-not-call registry to match the US attempt. Issues regarding the impact on charities are being analyzed."
Mod up plz
I dont know about you, but I have not had a charity call me up asking for money. And even if they did, I probably wouldnt give them money. Why? Because there is no way to know that that person is legit or not. At least with fundraisers and door-to-door people, who can at least present proof of ID.
And if the Heart and Stroke foundation or Variety Village called me up just as I was sitting down to dinner, it is quite unlikely that I would buy anything from them, as they just royally pissed me off. I might give it to the Salvation Army instead, or the Daily Bread Food Bank.
I swear, this is my biggest source of ire. At least once a week, I get a call from some autodialer. Even worse, I'd say that 3/4 of the time it fails to connect me to an operator, and just hangs up after 20 seconds.
Nothing like running for the phone, only to get dead air and a "click".
> Issues regarding the impact on charities are being analyzed.
So if a group decides that they solicit for a "noble cause"(*) they can bother me whenever they want?
(*)
Miracle Max: You got any money?
Inigo Montoya: Sixty-five.
Miracle Max: I've never worked for so little. Except once, and that was a very noble cause.
Inigo Montoya: This is noble, sir. His wife is... crippled. His children are on the brink of starvation.
Miracle Max: Are *you* a rotten liar.
Inigo Montoya: I need him to help avenge my father, murdered these twenty years.
Miracle Max: Your first story was better.
*please see subject*
The Do Not Call list has a good premise, but it's under the grounds of being fucked with, and considering all our legal battles, it's still in the works, isn't it? Hopefully it'll do Canada better than it's done in the States... but... with all the red tape, I've hardly received less calls. Shit, most are from the services I'm subscribed to offering me more of their crap. Jimmy Joe Bob in bumfuck Idaho telling me I can save twelve cents on my long distance bill isn't as irritating as my phone company calling me and telling me I can do the same if I switch plans. I've cancelled services more than once for that shit.
They are pissed off that marketeers who do not belong to their organization are not required to do the same.
There are two kinds of sysadmins: paranoids and losers. I'm both kinds.
... when you pry it from my cold, dead Nokia.
I'd love to see a do-not-call registry in this country. However, given the track record of this government, I'll make the following not-so-bold predictions:
I could go on; colour me cynical. Far better than a "do-not-call" registry would be an "okay-to-call" registry. Why should I have to opt-in to prevent intrusive calls? If you want to receive unsolicited phone calls, you should jump through the hoops to get them, rather than others doing so to prevent them. The last thing I want to do is give this government my phone number. Let's not even start talking about filling out a census form....
It will have Loopholes big enough to run politicians and banks through.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
The Direct Marketing Association already runs a do-not-call list. I've used it. Getting one's name on it is good for about three years. All DMA members seem to respect it; the only unsolicited calls I get now are from two or three local charities; perhaps a half-dozen calls over a year.
Can't see the need to organize this at a government level, given how successful the DMA dnc list is.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
I live in Britain, and I'm on the UK "telephone preference service" list which works reasonably well. Most of the calls that I now get are from the US, trying to sell me "£1300 off a holiday in Florida". They can do this because I'm not on the US "Do not call" list and they can ignore the UK version. What I'd really like to do is to get my UK number on the US list, but the web site doesn't allow me to enter all of the digits. Does anyone have any suggestions?
The overhead for telemarketing for charities is horrendous - something like 60 - 90% goes to the telemarketers. Avoid them at all cost.
And for those who don't believe it, here's a link http://http//www.forces.org/evidence/files/bryden1 .htm
Nothing has changed since the report was issued.Simple rule of thumb - donating to telephone solicitors just encourages them, same as other spammers.
http://www.forces.org/evidence/files/bryden1.htm
I live in Soviet Canuckistan you insensitive clod!
Many years ago, I was working in a group that did telephony features for telephone switch.
;-)
At a brainstorm meeting, I suggested that we make the following feature:
[solicitor] - Hello, this is Bob from Gratton enterprise. May I speak with Mr. Méo please?
[Méo dials *44 and hang up ]
[telephone switch]: The user's time is important and as requested a fee of 20$ for the first 3 minutes and 5$ for any additional minutes.
Please press 1 to accept.
Otherwise, please remove his name and number from your list or next time you will be fined and automatic 50$ charge...
If the solicitor still wants to talk to him, the phone rings again...
But for some reason, I was told that our clients wouldn't like it, since they're biggest client were solicitors...
What most people don't know is that in Canada, there is already federal laws that are meant to protect people from the bastard telemarketers.
If you inform them not to call you, they are required to not call you for a period of at least 3 years!
BUT
No one enforces the law. No one spreads the word that the law even exists.
So, I usually remind the bastards that I have told them not to call, and that they are breaking the law. If its a bank trying to sell credit card insurance I get particularly nasty and tell them that I'll be cutting up my card and moving any money I have with them to ING Direct.
But mostly, I just don't answer the phone if caller ID doesn't show a name.
George Bush + Linux = "I will not let information get in the way of the fight against Windows"
I briefly worked for a telemarketing company (a vacation job while I was at university - don't hate me; I'm not really evil). Every day my colleagues and I would be given a very large, very worn book of names and phone numbers, and would spend a few hours interfering with the lives of the people within.
I've no idea how frequently these books were replaced, but it didn't happen in the two months that I was working there. There was no training to speak of; if you'd asked not to be called again you would have been assured of our compliance and then called a week or two later by the next poor fool who was given the book.
This was eight years ago and perhaps things have changed. But most likely they haven't, and the reason it takes months is that the telemarketers have yet to enter the twentieth century.
Make a law that says:
THE 'DO NOT CALL' LIST IS THE *PHONE BOOK*!
Attempting to post that got me:
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
But what if you _are_ yelling? And have been doing so for decades.
Astro
Like most concepts the U.S. brings out to make the common people think they are being protected, it isn't enforced. Just like the CAN SPAM bill signed by King George. Are you getting less SPAM? Now the government is allowing cell phone numbers to be sold to telemarketers. Where is the government when I go over my minutes? Same place as with my land line. Remember, in the U.S., the do not call list does not apply to charities and political contributions. Amusing how they equate themselves to a charity. Most receipients of charities don't have full health coverage.