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JUST A REMINDER...In a few weeks, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888/382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. This will only take a minute of your time to complete. It blocks your number for five (5) years. Or go to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/donotcall/index.html and follow the directions.

HARRISBURG -- The Pennsylvania Attorney General said AT&T Corp. will be required to pay about $35,000 in fines and costs for soliciting customers on the state's Do Not Call list. Attorney General Tom Corbett on Friday said AT&T admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to pay $29,500 in civil penalties and $5,000 for investigation costs. According to the attorney general, dozens of consumers on the "no call" list complained that they received multiple calls from AT&T offering them discount long distance service plans.

'The law is now under assault' Steve Carter brings his no-call fight to Evansville By BILL MEDLEY Courier & Press staff writer 464-7519 or medleyb@courierpress.com February 23, 2005 Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter on Tuesday said several more Indiana banks should withdraw their support for a proposed change to the state's no-call law. During a brief stop in Evansville, Carter asked bank customers to call banks that belong to the Consumer Bankers Association to oppose a petition he says will weaken consumer privacy. "The law is now under assault," Carter said at a press conference at Tri-State Aero. "What they're...

Does the national do-not-call list still exist?

A directory of cell phone numbers will be published soon. This opens the door to solicitors calling our cell phones using up our minutes. The Federal Trade Commission has set up a do not call list. You must call FROM the number you wish to register. The number is 1-888-382-1222, OR you can go to the link below to register your cell phones on line.

Cell-phone telemarketing rumor hooks Americans By Candice Choi Staff Writer There's nothing like the specter of telemarketers to stir up an urban legend; this time, it's that the pesky callers will soon start haunting people on their cell phones. Rumors of a Dec. 15 deadline to block telemarketers have reached such a fever pitch that government and industry officials stepped forward Friday to extinguish the fears. "There is no deadline to sign up," said Jen Schwartzman, spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission. People are free to sign up for the registry whenever they like, she said, and that's been the...

About 66 million Americans have signed up for the national Do Not Call Registry, resoundingly declaring their desire not to be bothered by telemarketers. "It's been a wild success," acknowledged Allen Hile, a spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington. So why mess with it? That's what the FTC says it may do in response to a petition from Voice Mail Broadcasting Corp., a Southern California direct-marketing firm that specializes in blitzing consumers with prerecorded phone messages. The company argues that the Federal Communications Commission allows such calls under certain circumstances, which is true, and that all it wants...

Telemarketers will soon have access to your cell phone number. This spring, all cell phone numbers will be put into a directory. The good news is, you do not have to worry about losing your friend's cell phone number. The bad news is, telemarketers will be calling your phone and using up your minutes. "It would be an option if you wanted to be in a directory or not. There could be some advantages - some people are virtually unreachable. About 5% of the cell phone users don't have a land line listing anywhere, so you lose your friends cell...

The agency overseeing the national Do Not Call Registry is considering opening a loophole in the year-old program to allow companies to deliver "pre-recorded message telemarketing" to American homes. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based privacy watchdog, says the change could result in the 64 million people enrolled in the list being bombarded by "answering-machine spam" and other unwanted voices on voice mail. The Federal Trade Commission says the change would have any dramatic results. Allen Hile of the FTC's division of marketing practices, who is overseeing the proposed rule change, said the measure sought by the Voice Mail...

LINKA directory of cell phone numbers will be published soon. This opens the door to solicitors calling our cell phones using up our minutes. The Federal Trade Commission has set up a do not call list. You must call FROM the number you wish to register, or go to their website listed above to be included on the do not call list. The number is 1-888-382-1222 http://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court Monday let stand a lower-court ruling that telemarketers' rights to free speech are not violated by the government's nationwide do-not-call list. Without comment, the justices rejected an appeal by commercial telemarketers against the lower-court ruling, which upheld as constitutional the popular program in which consumers can put their names on a list if they do not want to be called by telemarketers. "We hold that the do-not-call registry is a valid commercial speech regulation because it directly advances the government's important interests in safeguarding personal privacy and reducing the danger of telemarketing abuse...

Do Not Call - Part Deux Articles / Law & CourtsDate: May 19, 2004 - 02:40 PM Telemarketers vs 'Joe Citizen' We have passed our various state controlled telemarketer ban lists ... and we have passed our federal telemarketer ban list ( Do Not Call ). Things have been quiet and peaceful without the intrusion of boorish telemarketers ..... until now! 1-416-581-1076 The telephone rang it's demanding tone - I glanced over to the caller ID to see if I wanted to stop what I was doing. It showed "Caller Unknown" but it did show the telephone number 1-416-581-1076...

<p>McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Bankrupt telecommunications company MCI said Friday it will cut 4,000 jobs — more than 7% of its workforce — and closing three call centers because of cost-cutting pressures and fallout from the national "do not call" registry. The company had announced in January that it was expecting to reduce overall costs by 15% to 20%, but did not mention specifically that jobs would be cut.</p>

McLEAN, Va. - Bankrupt telecommunications company MCI said Friday it is cutting 4,000 jobs — more than 7 percent of its work force — and closing three call centers because of cost-cutting pressures and fallout from the national Do Not Call registry. The company had announced in January that it was expecting to reduce overall costs by 15 percent to 20 percent, but did not mention specifically that jobs would be cut. The centers being closed are located in Denver, Phoenix and Niles, Ohio. Jobs are also being reduced at MCI facilities in Alpharetta, Ga., Colorado Springs, Colo. and Springfield,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A telemarketers' trade group said Wednesday it had abandoned its fight against the national "do not call" list and would respect the wishes of consumers who do not want to hear from them. The Direct Marketing Association, which represents 80 percent of the telemarketing industry, said it would abandon its legal case arguing that the no-call list violates telemarketers' free-speech rights. "We're going to abide by the list and let the decision stand," said DMA spokesman Louis Mastria. DMA members have refrained from calling the more than 50 million phone numbers on the list since it took...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has been successful in shielding many Americans from unsolicited telemarketing phone calls, an Associated Press poll found, but is finding it more difficult to cut down on the growing flood of e-mail "spam." The AP-Ipsos poll found that three-quarters of the people who signed up for the do-not-call list reported fewer telemarketing calls. It also found that few people noticed any difference in the amount of junk e-mail they've received in the six weeks since a law intended to cut down on spam took effect. More than 57 million phone numbers have been placed on...

<p>DENVER — A federal appeals court upheld the government's do-not-call registry (search) Tuesday, dismissing telemarketers' claims that it violates free speech rights and is unfair because it doesn't apply to charities and political solicitations.</p> <p>The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (search) called the registry "a reasonable fit."</p>

DENVER – A federal appeals court upheld the government's do-not-call registry Tuesday, rejecting claims by telemarketers that it crushes free speech rights. "We hold that the do-not-call registry is a valid commercial speech regulation because it directly advances the government's important interests in safeguarding personal privacy and reducing the danger of telemarketing abuse without burdening an excessive amount of speech," the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said. "In other words, there is a reasonable fit between the do-not-call regulations and the government's reasons for enacting them."

<p>As a state assemblywoman in 2001, Elaine Alquist voted for "do-not-call" legislation to shield Californians from annoying telemarketing calls. But Thursday, in the midst of a bid for the state Senate, Alquist's campaign deluged about 13,000 Santa Clara County households with a 7 a.m. wake-up call -- seeking votes in the March 2 primary election.</p>

Washington-AP -- If you have Caller ID, take a look at it starting tomorrow when the phone rings -- and you'll know if a telemarketer is calling. Federal regulations requiring telemarketing firms to identify themselves kick in tomorrow. Up until now, telemarketing calls had shown up on Caller ID as "out of area." But either the name of the company trying to make a sale or the firm making the call now has to pop up -- along with a phone number customers can call to tell the company to stop calling. The new regulations are part of the...