Do-Not-Call List Popular, But Is It Effective?
Federal Lawyers Tell Telemarketers Public Frustration Justifies Registry
UPDATED: 1:14 pm EST November 11,
2003
Nearly 55 million people have signed up for the national do-not-call registry, and it's a hit with consumers, officials say."Well, we're actually now at 53.4 million [subscribers]," said Lois Greisman, of the Federal Trade Commission. "We've seen registration in the order of 100,000 phone numbers a day."
It may be popular, but is the registry effective?Before the list went into effect, KXAS-TV in Dallas asked viewers to keep track of a week's worth of telemarketing calls. Then, the same people kept track of the calls they received after the list kicked in Oct. 1.Out of the 20 volunteers, 13 said they had fewer calls. Six had no calls, and only one received the same number of calls."The phone is ringing less often. The home is a little quieter," Lois Greisman said.However, that does not mean the no-call list is perfect.Marisa Hollingsworth signed up months ago. Working from home two days a week, Hollingsworth was anxious to eliminate the calls that interrupted her workflow."Oh, it's absolutely annoying ... interrupts your train of thought, or another phone I'm on," Hollingsworth said. But after signing up for the list, Hollingsworth is still receiving telemarketing calls."I was working from home on Monday of last week, and I got four phone calls from telemarketers," she said.There are plenty of perfectly legal loopholes to the rule. For example, companies can call you for up to 18 months after you do business with them. Also, charities, survey organizations and politicians are still free to call.Despite the loopholes, some companies are using what could be considered tricky tactics to avoid the no-call legislation.In fact, by entering some sweepstakes and taking advantage of some coupon offers, you could be unwittingly pulling your name off the list. To avoid this, make sure to read the fine print before taking advantage of such offers.Meanwhile, government officials say they are catching on to the questionable practices."You really cannot bury a consumer's rights in fine print," Greisman said. "That's just not something we're going to let you get away with very easily."If a telemarketer does violate no-call regulation, you can file a complaint with the FTC.
Share Your ThoughtsGovernment: Public Frustration Justifies Registry
Meanwhile, the folks who call you at dinnertime are trying to sell their case to a federal appeals court. Lawyers representing telemarketers told a federal appeals court panel in Tulsa, Okla., that the nation's new do-not-call list violates their free speech rights. Federal lawyers answered that the public's right to privacy and its frustration with telemarketers justify the list. Telemarketers say the law is unfair because it bars calls from businesses, but not from charities and politicians. But federal lawyers say that when the situation was studied in 1992, the overwhelming number of complaints involved commercial callers. Telemarketers want the appeals court to uphold lower court rulings that found the list unconstitutional. Those rulings have been blocked, pending appeals.Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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