Do Not Call list may get loophole

Waterbury Republican-American ^ | November 27, 2004 | AP Wire

[Graybeard58]

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 Broadcasting Corp. is only intended to bring FTC rules in line with those of the Federal Communications Commission; the FCC rules permit pre-recorded telemarketing messages to customers of companies.

Hile said companies would be allowed to send the messages only to their existing customers or those with which they already have business relationships. If they object to the calls, they would have the "opt out" of receiving further calls, he said.

-- Scripps Howard News Service

Hile added that companies using the method to contact customers would also have to clearly identify themselves in their messages.

The FTC has established the Web site https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-tsr for the public to comment on the proposed change by Jan. 20.

EPIC says altering the rules of the Do Not Call list at this time is dangerous because telephone technology is changing with the use of virtually cost-free Internet calling. The group says that creates a "perfect storm" to barrage American homes with unwanted telemarketing and answering-machine spam.

The organization says that if the calls are permitted, Voice Mail Broadcasting should be required to get permission from consumers before sending any messages to their telephones, a so-called "opt-in" plan. Telemarketers oppose opt-in proposals. Voice Mail says its technology can send 1.5 million messages a day, and EPIC says that if the loophole is opened, other companies can be expected to take advantage of it as well.

[steve-b]

You will answer the point raised by discontu, or we will recognize you as a troll:

We tried solving this problem with the free market, but the telemarketers just wouldn't listen. We tried getting unlisted phone numbers - They started sequential dialing We tried getting caller ID - They found a way to spoof the ID boxes We tried getting call blocking - The found a way to spoof THAT

[sheltonmac]

Again, I am simply insisting that the government do its job

Again, no you're not. The federal government has no jurisdiction in this matter -- unless, of course, you buy into the socialist interpretation of the "interstate commerce" clause.

[sheltonmac]

You will answer the point raised by discontu, or we will recognize you as a troll

Actually, he did. And why would you consider a four-year member of FR, who has a distinguished record of defending traditional conservatism, a troll?

[steve-b]

No, he did not answer the point (which is that telemarketers wilfully and repeatedly broke down the various fences and NO TRESPASSING signs that people erected against them, until they were quite properly restrained by the government using its police power to enforce the private property rights of their victims).

This is trollery. I don't care if the troll has been on FR since the time of the Big Bang.

[steve-b]

Nonsense. If it makes you feel better, I'd allow the state government rather than the federal government to assume the responsibility of punishing in-state telemarketers who call my DNC-listed number (though, in fact, there aren't any -- the boiler-room operations are much cheaper to run in the Midwest/Plains, so they've all migrated there).