Slashdot Mirror
FTC Bans Prerecorded Telemarketing Drivel
coondoggie writes "In the ongoing battle to let us eat dinner in peace without being interrupted by amazingly annoying telemarketer blather, and in this case the even more infuriating recorded telemarketing drivel, the Federal Trade Commission today basically outlawed recorded telemarketing calls. Specifically, the FTC changed its venerable Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to prohibit, as of Sept. 2009, telemarketing calls that deliver prerecorded messages, unless a consumer has agreed to accept such calls from a given caller/seller. Between now and 2009, telemarketers must provide an obvious, easy and quick way for consumers to opt-out of any call, the FTC said. Such an opt-out mechanism needs to be in place by December 1, 2008."
"telemarketing calls that deliver prerecorded messages"
what if they use text to speech software? it's not prerecorded.
am i looking for money lol
It's all well and good to know that you're supposed to tell someone to remove you from their call list when you actually have a human on the other end, but the endless calls to my work number (it's on the DNC list, but is too new to have propagated) by machines wishing to inform me of my vehicle's possible "out-of-warranty status" need to end.
There's one thing that is conspicuously missing from do not call lists, and that is the ability to opt out of ANY kind of call you receive.
Currently, you're not able to opt out of receiving political or charitable calls. There are companies out there masquerading as charities and calling folks. I'm on their list and have been told several times that I cannot and will not be removed from their lists, because they don't have to.
Once the FTC fixes this, then I'll be impressed.
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
Yes we've had laws against pre-recorded robotic marketing in Canada for decades. The problem is that neither the government nor the police are willing to enforce the law. When I get robots calling me up I make a complaint to the phone company and the phone company says they can't do anything about it because it is a police issue. When I phone the police up they tell me that they won't do anything about it because it is the phone company's responsibility to stop the illegal practice.
Indeed, however obviously doing the reverse, and having it opt-in, would exclude telemarketing almost entirely, (which would be a good thing, but not from their point of view, and their associates) and probably lead to things like bundling telemarketing plans with your phone bill, and if you opt-out there, your rates go up... so opt-out is probably a better option, although bundling may happen anyways as most people are becoming used to it now arbitrarily, hey why not tack it on as manditory?
[ ] I would like to install Google Toolbar with my new long distance plan. (-5$ From monthly bill)
[ ] I do not wish to participate in the telemarketing option. (+15$ to your montly bill)
Telephone communications are considered private, right? That is, unlike email, a phone conversation can reasonably be expected to be between only me and the party on the other end.
How can one then presume that a private activity such telephone communication should be treated as a broadcast medium? Political free speech is an exemption? Am I to let every politician come into my bedroom for a little pillow talk because of "free speech"?
The phone is a direct line into the heart of my private home. I don't want anyone in my home who I didn't invite.
You might say calling me is no different from coming up and knocking on my door. OK then, come up and knock on my door. Too expensive you say? Calling is more efficient you say? Well I believe the term was "free speech", not "cheap speech".
Oh, and when you do come knocking, don't forget to read the sign that says "No Solicitors". You know, the sign that sets the rules on my private property where I have certain rights also.
Tell you what, here's a good way to do it. Since I can't put a sign on my phone, why not make a rule that says if you want to call me you have to have come to my door and get me to sign a piece of paper that says I agree to take your calls. If that's too much trouble, then I probably didn't want to hear from you anyway.
Equine Mammals Are Considerably Smaller
Indeed it is. But free speech - political or otherwise - can still be harassment, which remains illegal. I'm hardly an expert on tort law (hell, I don't know if harassment is even falls into the category), but I see no reason you couldn't sue if not press criminal charges if it's serious enough.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
I agree. But when did a pre-recorded message become "speech"?
If McCain wants to call me to tell me bad things about Obama, let him, but then I want to hear him in person. His right to talk to me stops when he prevents himself from hearing me hanging up on him.
I also wish there was a way to temporarily block a phone for all calls except emergencies from numbers registered as such. Few things are as horrible as sitting waiting for a call from a hospital, and all you get are telemarketing calls.
They don't act on an individual complaint, but they compile them and if a company gets a number of them, the FTC goes after them.
That's pretty much what I was (finally) told (after calling back and forth between Bell Canada and the police) by the police. This means that I will continue to get automated robotic calls from the same companies (it has been happening for a few years already) until enough people decide to complain about it.
It's not a criminal issue, it is a civil.regulatory issue. So the police aren't involved.
According to what I was told by Bell Canada, it is a police issue. I agree however that the police should not have to get involved. I received no help or advice from either institution. I remember one time complaining to the CRTC (the Canadian equivalent to the American FCC) on another matter and they referred me to another department which referred me to another department. Eventually I gave up on that issue as I have given up on the robotic phone call issue (which I have complained about more than once; if at first you don't succeed, try try again).
I think these companies probably know the law enforcement issues (civil or otherwise) better than me and try to keep their call volume under the radar.
Yeah I know the issues; "it's not my aisle" and I should stop pestering law enforcement to enforce the law and the phone company can't control their own phone network.
Just to follow up on the above, I have noticed a great decrease in nuisance calls since registering with the TPS - and any that do slip through the net, just tell the caller you are on the TPS & demand their company name & telephone number & threaten to report them to OfTel.
Whilst a lot of them do just put the phone down quick, others do apologise & assure you that your details will be removed from their database.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
IT WORKS PEOPLE. I did exactly that (but since I didn't want to mess with sending voice, I just used the XP fax utility). Setup my GF's laptop next to the phone and plugged in the modem (first time in AGES). Every 15 minutes the scheduled task fired a "fax" to the annoying company. After they called multiple times each day for weeks, they quit calling me the day I implemented Marketing Faxor(TM).
ps. Can't remember if I used a vbscript - probably, I use it for most everything on windows. But if the fax util accepts command line args, you might be able to avoid the vbscript. And I am sure there is a way to do it in Linux... someone else chime in with that info.
No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...