Posted on 08/07/2002 11:27:57 AM PDT by Willie Green
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:34:44 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
HARRISBURG -- The state's new "do not call" list to be registered as off-limits for telemarketers has been swamped, and thousands of residents have not been able to get through since the hotline was turned on yesterday.
In fact, within the first 20 hours that the list was opened, starting yesterday morning, roughly 115,000 people were successfully registered to have their phone numbers placed on the list.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
It's certainly made dinner time much quieter, though.
(How long until somebody hops into this thread to whine about the right of people to shove their way into my ear because it's good for the economy?)
State debuts its 'do-not-call' list
The aim is to provide protection from those pesky telemarketers
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg CorrespondentHARRISBURG -- Linda Och of Knoxville was thrilled yesterday to put her name on the new statewide "do not call" list.
It means that she no longer has to screen her telephone calls to avoid those annoying telemarketers.
She had been getting as many as 30 calls a day. One came on Christmas Eve. She said a phone salesman lured her into a credit card scam that cost her $400.
Never again.
"We're all victims of telemarketers, I think," she said as she registered her phone number on the do-not-call list. "This is the best thing since sliced bread. I'm thrilled."
The list was authorized by the Pennsylvania Legislature in the spring and signed into law by Gov. Mark Schweiker. Registration began during a news conference held by state Attorney General Mike Fisher, the Republican candidate for governor, whose office will administer the list.
You can register at the Web site www.nocallsplease.com or by calling toll-free 1-888-777-3406.
The process is easy. For Och, it took 30 seconds yesterday as the news media looked on.
To register, a caller is asked to give his name, address, ZIP code and phone number. The hot line is fully automated, and is open around the clock. A phone number will remain on the do-not-call list for five years.
The hot line, however, may be busy for a while, as a large volume of callers is expected. Try back later, Fisher suggested, noting that Colorado registered 100,000 people on the first day of registration for its do-not-call list.
The state's registration hot line is set up to handle 1,000 calls per hour. The Web site can handle 12,000 per hour.
Pennsylvania's list will be compiled by Sept. 15 and given to Direct Marketing Association of New York for distribution to all telemarketers in the country. Each company will pay $465 a year for the list, which will be updated quarterly. Direct Marketing Association is a nonprofit firm that is not charging the state to compile the list.
Telemarketers will be expected to abide by the do-not-call list as of Nov. 1.
After that, if a telemarketer calls someone whose phone number is on the list, Fisher said he will prosecute. Fines could range from $1,000 per illegal call to $3,000 if the recipient is 60 or older.
Repeat violators can be banned from doing business at all in Pennsylvania.
The law prohibits telemarketers from intentionally blocking consumers' caller identification. Fisher said anyone who receives an illegal call should notify his Bureau of Consumer Protection with the identification of the telemarketing firm. If that is unknown, Fisher said, the attorney general's staff can obtain that information through investigation.
"Today, Pennsylvanians have the power to hang a 'do-not-disturb' sign on their telephones and reclaim a piece of their privacy that has been relentlessly invaded by telemarketers," he said. "My job as attorney general will be to enforce this law and to prosecute any telemarketing company that fails to comply with your newly obtained right not to be bothered at home."
Fisher has been working on legislation to create a do-not-call list since 1996, when he was a state senator.
He, too, has been bothered by telemarketers. One call, six to eight years ago, stuck in Fisher's memory, he said. It came at 9:30 a.m. on a Christmas Day.
"You can imagine what I told him," Fisher said.
His wife, Carol, said she put their home number on the do-not-call list yesterday.
But politicians in search of votes, such as gubernatorial candidate Fisher, remain free to dial people at home.
Fisher said the do-not-call list will not apply to political parties or candidates. He said he would not promise that his campaign will forego the use of telemarketing firms.
Politics also plays a part in the registration process.
Callers who register by phone may notice that the automated greeting announces that they have reached "Attorney General Mike Fisher's do-not-call list."
John M.R. Bull can be reached at jbull@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.
"....if you leave your name and number, we will call you back...every day....at dinnertime...."
With the super stealth Gubernatorial campaign he’s running, I don’t think PA residents have too much to worry about.
I’ve never understood how telemarketing firms make money. I don’t know anyone who buys anything from their phone calls. Must be someone out there though…
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
He's not entitled to freedom of speech at someone else's expense. A telemarketer burns your time and uses your resources (your phone) to express himself for commercial purposes. Without your consent.
If you defend telemarketers, then the logical position would be to support a WalMart putting up advertising signs in your front yard.
He's not entitled to freedom of speech at someone else's expense. A telemarketer burns your time and uses your resources (your phone) to express himself for commercial purposes. Without your consent.
If you defend telemarketers, then the logical position would be to support a WalMart putting up advertising signs in your front yard.
At work; I don't really mind teleMs. It's no big deal for me to say 'are you soliciting, thank you, take me off your list, never call back'. But when I get the hang ups arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghghghghgh?#@!#@!!
that gets to me a lil bit
I think it's complete BS that you cannot call telem #s back to at the very least tell them to remove your number from thier list.
Well, I'll go half way :)
There are a couple of problems with the current situation that tend to raise everyone's ire. Solve them, and I think we'll finally put an end to the Great Telemarketing Debate. First of all, a ringing telephone is a VERY annoying thing. I can't stand the sound of it, in any of its variations. Change it. Once I'm over the irritation of that damned sound, I now need to know who the hell it is. Caller ID got me partially there, but it doesn't work for everyone. Make it so.
Have the telemarketing industry subsidize personal phone lines. Somehow make incoming sales calls "toll" calls. Each one you get, money comes off the bill (real money, not a half-cent or some other paltry sum).
The problem is we don't "own" our phone lines. If there is a way to make telecom infrastructure "property-like", we could implement restrictions of our own, without government help.
I can't blame telemarketers for doing what they do. It's obviously somewhat successful, or they'd be gone by now. They are annoying, just as fliers on my windshield offering cheap carpet cleaning are.
Yet another example of the sheeple begging the gov't to resolve a situation that can easily be taken care of by the parties involved.
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