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FTC Plans Do-Not-Call Registry
from the sounds-good dept
One of the best moves I made a few years ago, when I moved into a new place, was to make sure my phone number was not listed. While I do have issues with the idea that I need to pay to not have my phone number listed, it's been absolutely worth it in making sure I avoid most telemarketing calls (a few still get through). Now, the FTC is getting ready to introduce a national "do not call" list and make it illegal for telemarketers to call those on the list. While there is the chance that, like spammers, telemarketers would ignore this, the fines would be fairly large, and the industry is much more regulated. That doesn't mean there aren't hurdles of course. There are plenty of industries that aren't included in FTC regulations who would still be able to make telemarketing calls. At the same time, the telemarketing industry is not at all happy about this idea, and plan to fight it as much as they can. So, chances are it wouldn't go into effect until various legal challenges have been exhausted. There are a few other nice things in the proposal, such as forcing telemarketers to transmit caller ID information and to ban the use of autodialers.
Reader Comments
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One big question
Will political candidates also have to obey the do not call list and to not use autodialers?
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Re: One big question
No, they're not included. It says that politicians and charities are exempt. So, it's not the greatest solutuion.
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Re: One big question
That's ok, with the last election, when I was repeatedly called by politicians using autodialers, I'd play with the autodialers an would usually get a human voice on the other end before too long. Then I'd proceed in telling them why I had no intention of ever voting for their candidate. Besides, I never use the information I receive over the telephone to persuade me to vote for someone, but instead look to where they stand on the issues. Unfortunately, there are a lot of others out there who do.
I doubt any of my words helped, I certainly wasn't talking to the politician themselves, just the operator of the infernal machine, but I plan next time to send an email (or maybe several dozen) to the candidate themselves next year stating why I won't vote for them because they used an auto-dialer and we'll see where that goes, politicians don't read their email *AFTER* an election, but I guarantee they or someone who works for them reads email before an election.
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