Unsolicited phone calls are illegal in Colorado. I went from 40 calls a week to zero the day the law went into effect. I haven't had a single call since then, except from charities (which are allowed). I don't have to cringe when the phone rings at night any more.
http://www.coloradonocall.com/
Here's the story of their first legal battle with the phone spam industry after the law went into effect:
Yesterday Federal Judge Robert Blackburn rejected an attempt by telemarketers' lawyers to stop the July 1 no-call list implementation. It is now scheduled to go into effect on Monday.
I had the pleasure of sitting through three hours of whining by the telemarketers. According to their testimony, the future of our nation's economy depends on their ability to annoy you at home during the dinner hour. They also expressed shock and outrage that over 750,000 residential phones (out of a total of 1,963,000) had already been signed up.
I suggested that since they are such champions of our freedom of speech, perhaps they could provide us with their home phone numbers so that all of us could exercise our First Amendment rights. They declined.
Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar's staff, led by Assistant AG Jan Zavislan, put together a terrific defense. They only had six days from last Friday's filing of the request for a temporary restraining order to halt the July 1 startup. Yet they nailed down point-by-point the constitutionality of Colorado's No-Call law. Bighorn helped prepare some affidavits to support their case. Thanks to the AARP, State Senator Ken Chlouber, Rep. Steve Johnson, Rep. Mark Larsen, Rep. Al White, and everyone else who cooperated in this effort.
A big part of this issue hinges on First Amendment protections for commercial versus non-commercial speech. This is basically why politicians and non-profits can't be banned from calling. In Bighorn's research and drafting of this legislation, we looked hard at including them but feared that the law might be overturned. It turns out we were right.
The telemarketers have vowed to continue the fight. Bighorn promises to continue to represent your interests to the best of our ability.
We believe that if you can't make them see the light, you must make them feel the heat. And basically that is our plan. Bighorn will be back in touch soon to let you know how we hope to accomplish this.
It's been a long fight, and it's still not over. But we're close! Thanks for your continued support in helping preserve the right to personal privacy in our homes.
Best regards,
Rutt Bridges, CEO Bighorn Center for Public Policy
Slashdot Mirror
Unsolicited phone calls are illegal in Colorado. I went from 40 calls a week to zero the day the law went into effect. I haven't had a single call since then, except from charities (which are allowed). I don't have to cringe when the phone rings at night any more.
http://www.coloradonocall.com/
Here's the story of their first legal battle with the phone spam industry after the law went into effect:
==
[from info@bighorncenter.org. Dated Thu, 6/27/2002]
Yesterday Federal Judge Robert Blackburn rejected an attempt by telemarketers' lawyers to stop the July 1 no-call list implementation. It is now scheduled to go into effect on Monday.
I had the pleasure of sitting through three hours of whining by the telemarketers. According to their testimony, the future of our nation's economy depends on their ability to annoy you at home during the dinner hour. They also expressed shock and outrage that over 750,000 residential phones (out of a total of 1,963,000) had already been signed up.
I suggested that since they are such champions of our freedom of speech, perhaps they could provide us with their home phone numbers so that all of us could exercise our First Amendment rights. They declined.
Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar's staff, led by Assistant AG Jan Zavislan, put together a terrific defense. They only had six days from last Friday's filing of the request for a temporary restraining order to halt the July 1 startup. Yet they nailed down point-by-point the constitutionality of Colorado's No-Call law. Bighorn helped prepare some affidavits to support their case. Thanks to the AARP, State Senator Ken Chlouber, Rep. Steve Johnson, Rep. Mark Larsen, Rep. Al White, and everyone else who cooperated in this effort.
A big part of this issue hinges on First Amendment protections for commercial versus non-commercial speech. This is basically why politicians and non-profits can't be banned from calling. In Bighorn's research and drafting of this legislation, we looked hard at including them but feared that the law might be overturned. It turns out we were right.
The telemarketers have vowed to continue the fight. Bighorn promises to continue to represent your interests to the best of our ability.
We believe that if you can't make them see the light, you must make them feel the heat. And basically that is our plan. Bighorn will be back in touch soon to let you know how we hope to accomplish this.
It's been a long fight, and it's still not over. But we're close! Thanks for your continued support in helping preserve the right to personal privacy in our homes.
Best regards,
Rutt Bridges, CEO
Bighorn Center for Public Policy