Do Not Call List Blocked Again – This Time Might Be More Difficult To Solve
from the whooops dept
Well, after the House and Senate rushed through bills this morning giving the FTC the right to run the national Do Not Call list (which was why the list was barred yesterday) a different federal judge has blocked the list a second time – this time saying it’s a violation of free speech rights. As people note in the article, this is a trickier problem to solve. Congress won’t just be able to pass legislation to get around this ruling. The judge’s specific complaint was in noting that the current Do Not Call list included some exceptions, such as for politicians and charitable organizations. He used this to say that the telemarketing industry was being treated unfairly, violating their First Amendment Rights. And, since it’s now become a Constitutional issue, it would need to go to the Supreme Court to get overturned. Unlike Congress, the Supreme Court is not likely to move very quickly on this. Of course, one way around this (which would probably make plenty of people happy) would be to ban the “exceptions” also. Unfortunately, politicians aren’t likely to agree to remove their own ability to bug you with telemarketing calls. Meanwhile, the list still exists and the FTC says you should keep signing up. However, many people are suddenly afraid that instead of a “Do Not Call” list, it’s quickly becoming a “here’s a bunch of legitimate phone numbers we can call” list. The Direct Marketing Association is thinking about whether or not it will actually stop calling the people on the list. How hard is this for them to understand? These people do not want them to call. It’s a waste of their time and money to call those people – so why should they want to keep calling them?
Comments on “Do Not Call List Blocked Again – This Time Might Be More Difficult To Solve”
You know, the sooner
we finally kill that idea that a corporation has just as many rights as a real person does, the happier I will be. I see no reason why GE, Microsoft, Sun, Apple, Avon, etc. should have all the rights that I do. I can see how it some limited rights might be necessary, but First Amendment rights? Ptuie!
Re: You know, the sooner
I think it stinks about these companies out there that have the right to call you several times to the point of harrassment. I am dealing with one now that called me at 8:30 yesterday morning and that damned thing is stuck on my phone and keeps calling every two minutes. It is making me crazy. No one can call me or leave a message Every hour I call to check the machine and there is 30 to 40 calls from the same damned number. I’ve called the phone company and have to go through a big hassle of either changing my number or paying and extra monthly charge to get them on some block list. What the hell…what are my rights. This is harrassment for sure.. What stinks is I have possible job opportunities expecting other calls too. No one can get through because my number is stuck on this company’s callback list automatic calling bullshit…
Re: You know, the sooner
I think it stinks about these companies out there that have the right to call you several times to the point of harrassment. I am dealing with one now that called me at 8:30 yesterday morning and that damned thing is stuck on my phone and keeps calling every two minutes. It is making me crazy. No one can call me or leave a message Every hour I call to check the machine and there is 30 to 40 calls from the same damned number. I’ve called the phone company and have to go through a big hassle of either changing my number or paying and extra monthly charge to get them on some block list. What the hell…what are my rights. This is harrassment for sure.. What stinks is I have possible job opportunities and expecting other calls too. No one can get through because my number is stuck on this company’s callback list automatic calling bullshit…
telemarketing/spam/RIAA all from the same root pro
It comes down to the same issue… “Business Models” some companies rely on telemarketing and spam, and while most of us cant stand receiving multiple spam messages a day followed by the phone ringing off the hook from tele-marketers. They do find (out of the sheer volume) a small percentage (which isn’t that small thanks to that large volume) of “customers” and hence for them it is a lucrative method of selling their products and whatnot, changing their entire business would bring on too many un-foretold risks and require too much change that they aren’t willing to accept that as an option. Same with the entertainment industry, while their current tactics are pissing off a multitude of people, to them its a more viable alternative than beting the company/industry on some new un-tested business models.
Telemarketing List
A possible solution would be to relaunch the sign up service at the FTC, giving everyone 3 options: a)opt in/out to politicians. b)opt in/out to charities. c)opt in/out to Telemarketers. Give everyone equal rights to keep the courts happy
Re: Telemarketing List
Your rights don’t matter as much as a corporations do. Face it.
Buy a Lifeguard Whistle
When Avon, GE, Microsoft, etc pay MY freakin’ phone bill then they can have the right to call me.Until then, I take a large lifeguard whistle and blow the thing as loudly as I can into the phone thereby temporarily making the tele-moron deaf.