Slashdot Mirror
Do Not Call Registry Set to Become Permanent
coondoggie passed us a NetworkWorld article about an initiative by the Senate to transform the Do Not Call list into a permanent institution. Originally individuals on the list were to have their place on the list revoked; up to a third of the people who signed up might have fallen off the list by the Autumn without renewing legislation. A move by the Senate this past Wednesday will permanently prevent salesmen from calling those who have registered for the list. "Aside from what telemarketing junk the bill does prevent, experts note what may also be a big deal is a provision that is NOT in this bill and that is protection for those other annoying time wasters: political robo calls."
My congresscritters are finally doing something I approve of!
I can just hang up on a phone call. I find junk mail to be far more annoying & damaging to the environment.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Don't think so? How many prosecutions have there been under the law in the last year?
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
How about no robo-calls PERIOD?
Do you know they leave messags on your answering machine now?
I was sitting here, minding my own business.. phone rings, 1-800 number..no way i'm picking that up.
So my machine gets it, to my horrow i suddenly hear a text-book RADIO AD blaring through my answeing machine!
HI THIS IS GOTTSCHALKS BLQAGH BLAH BLAH in my own #($&*%& house, an ad! NO TV, NO RADIO!
I immediately threw my empty beer bottle at the blast machine, I'm getting answering service through the phone company now!
Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
Caller ID along with an answering machine is a great combination. My home phone/answering machin also lets me set up custom ring tones for numbers in its address list. If a family member of friend calls I hear one type of ring so I always answer it. If the Caller ID says something like "blocked" or "unknown" or shows a phone number like 000-000-0000 then I just let my answering machine pick it up. It sure saves me a lot of hassle.
I answer the phone and tell them "yes, just hold on a second". Then I leave the phone on the table, wondering how long will it take them to hang up this time.
What happens to the status of the number when someone discontinues usage of the telephone number, say by moving or canceling your service and moving to VoIP? IF the number is then at some point reassigned to another person, does that number remain on the Do-Not-Call list? If it does, is that legitimate, as an individual can only vouch for their own phone numbers, and not that of a third-party?
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Now we need to do something about the telemarketing firms calling "on behalf" of non-profit organizations. This is still legal under the law (it seemed like a good idea: who doesn't love non-profits?), but it's being abused. The telemarketing companies keep an extraordinary fraction of the donations (over 50%, from what a local newspaper investigation found) so little of your money goes to the organization you're trying to help.
One obvious solution is to only allow the non-profit exemption if more than, say, 90% of the donation goes right to the actual non-profit. That'll probably shut up the telemarketers because profit would no longer cover costs.
The occasional person polling me for my opinions doesn't bother me at all. It's simple enough to hang up if I don't want to bother. But in the days before the Do Not Call List, I'd hardly ever bothered answering my phone if it got bad.
Junk mail is far worse, IMO. You still have to sort through it to make sure you're not throwing anything important out. It usually just ends up turning my house into a mess because I don't have the time to deal with it all. At the very least, they could put those newspaper adverts in a bag or something. It's too easy to get that crap mixed in with real mail. I don't want anything that doesn't have my name on it (resident mailings), nor do I want credit card offers that can fuck me up if I don't dispose of them properly. I wish I could direct a private company to deliver my mail that won't having a problem stripping this stuff out for me.
They've had my dollar a few years now, and my mailbox hasn't seen any difference.
Just this morning I was pondering an amazing coupon for two $0.79 Taco Bell tacos for only $1.59. Or ten for $7.99!
you can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Prime UID Club
Here is an effective (though laborious) way to deal with that.
1. Register on National Do-Not-Call list.
2. Wait 3 month beginning period.
3. Get caller ID.
4. Wait for another call.
5. Be pleasant to the person, if you can order something cheap, say $10, do it.
6. Get their address and phone number as you place the order.
7. Photograph the Caller ID display as evidence.
8. Take good notes including date, time, person talked to, company name, as more evidence.
9. Copy the bill you receive for $10 as conclusive evidence of marketing intent.
10. Go to your county courthouse, lodge a small claim for $500 for a telemarketing violation.
11. Send them proper notice they are being sued.
12. Since they are often out of state, they won't show and you get default judgment.
13. If they do show, you have proof of listing, notice, call, and call purpose.
14. For bonus dollars, ($500 per item) look into whether they have, train to, practice and publish upon demand the required company calling policies.
15. Profit!!!
I've tried it, it works.
"We think people rightly feel that once they buy something, it stays bought," --Suw Charman, Open Rights Grp
The new telemarketers get around the do not call list by claiming they are taking surveys for products. I have been getting more and more calls for surveys lately for this or that product. I ask to be taken off the call list but they just say they are not telemarketers and ignore the request.
My wife doesn't like... saying no,
Tell me something I don't know.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
I still wont be happy until Opt-Out becomes the default, just like it should be with any other form of SPAM. Communications like this should all be Opt-In only, and only then if specifically subscribed per list type. All these contracts that say "we do business with you now, so our subsidiaries and 'partners' all get to SPAM you now, unless you go over there and print this form and sign and snail-mail it" are the default now, and they all stink.
The concept that corporations have ANY "rights", including free speech, is completely ludicrous. Corporations don't really die (even when they go out of business, their brand sometimes gets picked up, like Atari), and they have no sense of consequence unless regulations force them to. The activist Conservative judges gave corporations some of the same "rights" as people, through a grave misunderstanding of the term "people" in the Constitution, because apparently Conservatives think corporations are more important than actual living, breathing PEOPLE. You know, the new type of hairless talking monkeys. That kind of people!
;) I may even try that with the corporations SPAMMING me too, but they are so much bigger of a target, the ammo may be cost prohibitive.
Apart from that, "freedom of speech" has nothing to do with your ability to call my phone, send mail to my mail box, or e-mail me. Those communication methods all terminate on MY PROPERTY, and my property rights trump your "speech" rights any day. You can stand and yell at me all you want, but if you do it on my lawn, I can call the cops and have them drag you away, and no activist Conservative judges can change that. If they do, I'll just use my "right to bear arms" and shoot you.