Posted on 06/27/2003 12:15:53 PM PDT by PeaceCorpsGuy
370,000 Sign Up for Anti-Telemarketing List 1 hour, 30 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One thousand people per second signed up Friday to get on a free "do not call" list that will prevent telemarketers from bothering them at home, swamping telephone lines and a Web site set up to handle demand.
Reuters Photo
Eager Americans rushed to place their home phone numbers on the Federal Trade Commission's list shortly after President Bush (news - web sites) launched the measure in a White House ceremony.
By noon the list had grown to 370,000 and was increasing by 1,000 per second, the FTC said.
The do-not-call list should help Americans enjoy their private time without unwanted interruptions, Bush said a few hours after the list was opened up for registration.
"When Americans are sitting down to dinner or a parent is reading to his or her child, the last thing they need is a call from a stranger with a sales pitch," Bush said in a White House Rose Garden ceremony.
Telemarketers who call numbers on the list after Oct. 1 will face penalties of up to $11,000 per call, as well as possible consumer lawsuits.
Consumers can sign up for the list by logging on to (http://donotcall.gov), while those living west of the Mississippi river can also register by calling 1-888-382-1222.
Consumers will not have to pay to get on the list, as it will be funded by telemarketers.
Plunging long-distance rates and computerized dialers have led to a five-fold increase in telemarketing calls over the past decade, prompting a deluge of consumer complaints.
The FTC announced plans for the list last year, and Congress approved it shortly afterward. The list will also include mobile phone numbers.
Do-not-call lists have proven popular in the roughly 25 states that have set them up. In Minnesota, for example, roughly half of the state's 2.2 million residential lines have subscribed.
FTC officials ultimately expect 60 million households to sign up for the national list, prompting the agency to delay telephone-based registration until July 7 for those living east of the Mississippi in an effort to handle demand.
Individuals across the country said they had trouble getting on to the Web site Friday morning, or were kicked off once they started the registration process.
FTC spokeswoman Cathy MacFarlane said consumers don't need to rush as they have all summer to sign up, and will not see a drop-off in telemarketing calls until Oct. 1.
Consumers will also be able to sign up for the list after the summer.
The list does not cover all callers. Nonprofit and political callers will be free to ignore it, but will have to honor consumer requests not to be called back. Businesses will be free to call customers for 18 months after making a sale, but they too will have to honor opt-out requests.
Telemarketing groups have sued to scratch the effort, arguing that it abridges free-speech rights, and say it could decimate an industry that employs 2 million.
Privacy advocate Jason Catlett, who has pushed for a national list for years, said he has little sympathy for their plight.
"Free speech doesn't give you the right to pester people in their homes when they don't want to be pestered," said Catlett, president of Junkbusters Corp., which helps clients avoid unwanted commercial pitches.
Doesn't the Constitution mention something about regulating Interstate Commerce (Article I Section 8 to be exact: To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states...)?
I'm quite sure that all of the calls I get are not exclusivly from my home state.
Most of them are purposely not from your own state to skirt existing laws on the book blocking such calls from within states.
Their site says 385,000 were verified in a 4 hour period. The 1,000 per second seems high.
I agree. In fact, I think they are already regulated too much. All laws regulating telemarketing, or any other industry in fact, should be removed. I mean, who really cares if someone calls you at three in the morning, doesn't tell you who they are, and asks you to buy home insurance or they will burn down your house.
This is America, doggone it! People should be able to do what they want!
Tee hee.
However in no way do I see a national government solution as fixing anything. Adding another level of bureaucracy and a whole line of sit on your A$$ jobs to be handed out like candy that will be paid for out of my paycheck is what I see out of this
Hmmm, caller ID, telemarketer block provided by private industry, and existing laws already in place should be able to handle a situation like that.
But you're right!! I agree, we need to get the national government involved in something else. Lord knows no one at that level, of either party, knows what the Constitution says anymore so let's get'em involved in this too
Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that there is NO need for the government to get any bigger or suck more money from our paychecks. (Aaaaargh! God forbid!!!)
Of course, whether states take responsibility, or feds do, there will be a new army of government workers to implement it (probably ex-telemarketers with a vendetta. LOL!).
I also wonder how hard it will be for the feds to actually enforce this law.
It seems pretty impossible unless the new army of federal workers includes a new army of trial lawyers.
(sigh) Well, at least Edwards will have something to do after he loses the Democratic primary.
:o)
I don't know how much "bureaucracy" and "sit on your A$$ jobs" are involved, but at least be reassured that it's not coming out of your wallet. The system will be paid for by subscription fees paid by the telemarketers.
You, of course, know that caller ID was only provided by the industry when legislation was threatened, and even then by only some states. That's why I still receive "out of area" calls all the time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.