The much-anticipated national registry for consumers fed up with unwanted telemarketing calls opened June 27 by the Federal Trade Commission.
"We're very pleased that beginning today, consumers can make the call on whether to get telemarketing pitches at home," said FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris in launching the registry, during a ceremony in the White House's Rose Garden. "Registration is free and easy, whether it is done online or by telephone."
Free and easy may be an understatement, with reports as of 1 p.m. PDT June 27 suggesting signups were coming at the rate of a thousand a second after its first fourteen hours of operation. The signups were expected to go past two million by midnight.
"Government is at its best when it empowers individuals to make their own choices," said Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell, whose agency adjusted its own rules almost at once to align to the FTC's do-not-call plan. "Consumers wanted more control over their telephones - and we are giving it to them."
The day before the do-not-call list was introduced, the FCC agreed to block telemarketers from the industries whose calls they regulate and to cover calls made from within any state, since the FTC's authority covers only interstate calling.
Spam opponents have also been hoping a similar idea might be brought into play by the FTC when it comes to cutting the recently-swelling spam epidemic.
The Direct Marketing Association said in a statement that they were pleased the FCC and the FTC were aligned in the do-not-call effort. President and chief executive officer H. Robert Wientzen said his group supports a national do-not-call that makes it easy for both consumers wanting to opt out and marketers who "need" to clean their call lists.
"We hope that the national do-not-call program announced today by the FCC will live up to the high expectations that consumers have for the well-publicized FTC list," he continued. "Certainly, today’s move will eliminate many headaches in the marketing community by making compliance with do-not-call laws a much simpler process.
"(We) look forward to working closely with the FCC and the FTC to educate marketers and consumers about the new program," Wientzen added. "We will protect the integrity of the American teleservices industry, which generated over $700 billion last year for the U.S. economy, by respecting consumer preferences."
The telemarketing industry has already sued the FTC on grounds that the do-not-call program violates free speech rights.
Those of you who've had it up to your keisters with unwanted telemarketing calls should note that the new rules also mean companies or telemarketers have until October 1 to get any do-not-call telephone numbers registered by August 31off their call lists. After that, telemarketers who haven't removed them and ignore the registry face fines as high as $11,000 a call.
The exceptions to the do-not-call rules include political organizations, charities, and common surveys, the FTC said, as well as companies with whom consumers already had a mutually established business relationship. And if you put your number on the do-not-call registry, you can also give written permission to any company from whom you want to hear, the FTC added.
Companies and telemarketers after October 1 will be required by law to visit the do-not-call registry and scrub numbers from their call lists, the agency continued.
To register your numbers on the do-not-call registry, visit the FTC on the Web. West Coast residents can also call toll free, 1-(888) 382-1222, to get their numbers on the list. East Coast residents can use the number beginning July 7.
