Posted on 11/27/2004 3:43:24 PM PST by 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.
The problem, my friend, is that the liberals would not let us block the calls so we had to enlist our conservative friends in government to fight back.
I'll take your approach to the government staying completely out of it when the government really stays completely out of it. There are more than enough private ways to keep them from calling. Again, the libs won't let us use them.
Can I just simplify this for everyone...get an unlisted number and almost all of this goes away.
I don't answer the ******* phone anymore! I let the answering machine do it for me. Whether they are telemarketers or not, I still get a lot of "Out of Area" callers who leave no message, so I assume they are either selling something or want a donation. With the advent of the wireless telephone directory, even our cell phones will be unsafe - therefore, I have disconnected the answerer from my cell phone. If it's someone I know they will be listed in the "Missed Calls" and I'll return it. Now if I could just figure out how to stop the scumbag junk faxers.
Presently I have 2 lines, one for the phone and one for a dedicated computer line.
I think I will beat the race and change my account later this next week and just keep the computer line with no phone hooked up to it. That way, if the cells are ever out, I could get out on landline by plugging in a phone to the computer line. If there is a better way, somebody please tell me what it is. Also, I don't have cable so we have satellite TV......I am even starting to wonder if that is worth the expense.
If they start to list our cell numbers, then I will just leave the darn thing off and carry a pager again. I hate pagers, it reminds me of when I use to have to work for a living..LOL
If you are a Verizon customer, here is the link.
http://www22.verizon.com/foryourhome/ContactUs/Contactus_email_form.asp
I'd contact many more companies on my own if it weren't a descent into automated phone hell!
____________________________________________________________
To connect service, please press 1.
To re-connect service, please press 2.
To respond to our spam voice mail, please dial the appropriate extension.
To lodge a complaint about our spam voice mail...please hold for an operator who can assist you.
Estimated wait time..........(don't hold your breath)
They should have a "Do not mail" list. I got so much Fn' snail mail it fills my mailbox up with crap.
I open the junk mail and if there is a Postage paid envelope inside I fill it with "whatever" and send it back.
My Grand-daughter thinks I am silly for doing that...
...I tell her I am helping the USPS make money.
Probably the Direct Marketing Association again. The ones who are always bribing congress about weakening every proposed antispam legislation that shows up.
Thank you! I'm going to start doing that, It's amazing the things you can learn from other people :D :D :D :D :D
About 10,000 people calling the FTC & FCC at the same time.
What a bunch of crap. You do not have the right to call me, and to continue to call after being told to stop is harassment.
I had DSL when I dropped my land line phone. At the time the phone company told me I could keep the DSL without a phone. I dropped the whole thing anyway and got a cable connection.
Soon as you hear it "hang up." OR...do what we do. We just let it go to message. We dont' even bother picking up the phone anymore.
maybe when your granddaughter begins to get bombarded with junk mail she will understand your method. By the way, we do the same thing. No sense wasting postage, right?
List or no list I still get calls. Not many, but somehow I never got many before the list (slum zip code, one block from an uppuh class zip and a long record of no phone sales whatever.) I suspect that the callers take a calculated risk, knowing than most recipients won't complain, and if they do, FTC, or whoever regulates this, will take no action. Like running red lights these days.
Given your comments, you might want to place a call to the OIG:
FTC employees and the general public may at any time anonymously or confidentially call the OIG's chief investigator directly on: (202) 326-2435, to report suspected wrongdoing by FTC employees, or to present allegations of possible fraud, waste or abuse occurring within or compromising an FTC program or operation.
Figures. It's going to turn into a humungous, juicy database for telemarketers. A big scam from day one.
bump
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