[meyer]

That's correct. The marketplace does it already and could do it even better if the states allowed local service competition.

The marketplace doesn't do it effectively - otherwise, you wouldn't see the huge public outcry. The only market solution I can see is if people were allowed to bill for their phone time at will without having to jump through all the red tape that constitutes becoming a business.

If someone trespasses on your property, you have legal recourse. That cannot be done when they trespass on your own phone line. The do-not-call list corrects that wrong in an efficient manner.

[palmer]

There are marketplace solutions already, my cell phone company doesn't allow its block of numbers to be autodialed. There would be far more solutions if local service were deregulated (including wireless). Then you would simply sign up for a service that offered to block commercial calls or whatever calls you did not want.