Posted on 09/24/2003 1:08:49 PM PDT by scab4faa
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its authority in creating the national ``do-not-call'' list against telemarketers.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by telemarketers who challenged the list of 50.6 million numbers submitted by people who do not want to receive business solicitation calls.
The immediate impact of Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee R. West was not clear. He did not issue an order directing an action by the FTC. The list was to go into effect Oct. 1.
West said the main issue in the case was ``whether the FTC had the authority to promulgate a national do-not-call registry. The court finds it did not.''
In 1994, Congress enacted the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act that directed the FTC to ``prescribe rules prohibiting deceptive ... and other abusive telemarketing acts.''
But the judge said Congress gave the Federal Communications Commission, not the FTC, the authority to operate ``a single national database to compile a list of telephone numbers of residential subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations.''
The FTC said the Omnibus Appropriations Act, signed by President Bush in February, authorizes the FTC to ``implement and enforce the do-not-call provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.''
``This decision is clearly incorrect,'' FTC chairman Timothy Muris said Wednesday. ``We will seek every recourse to give American consumers a choice to stop unwanted telemarketing calls.''
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said they were confident the ruling would be overturned and that they believe Congress gave the FTC authority to operate the registry.
``We will continue to monitor the situation and will take whatever legislative action is necessary to ensure consumers can stop intrusive calls from unwanted telemarketers,'' they said in a joint statement.
Direct Marketing Association, one of the plaintiffs, said it was happy with the ruling, even though it ``acknowledges the wishes of millions of U.S. consumers who have expressed their preferences not to receive telephone-marketing solicitations - as evidenced by the millions of phone numbers registered on the FTC list.''
The DMA, a nonprofit trade organization representing 5,000 U.S. companies, said it will work with its attorneys, the FTC and the FCC during the next few days to evaluate what the ruling will mean for consumers and businesses.
The telemarketing industry estimates the do-not-call list could cut its business in half, costing it up to $50 billion in sales each year. Telemarketers would have to check the list every three months to see who doesn't want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation.
The lawsuit was filed by U.S. Security, Chartered Benefit Services Inc., Global Contact Services Inc., InfoCision Management Corp. and Direct Marketing Association Inc.
A similar lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Denver, where the trade group American Teleservices Association and two telemarketing companies sued in January to keep the FTC from starting the do-not-call program.
In the Denver case, the plaintiffs said the list would violate telemarketers' constitutional rights and exceed the FTC's authority. The FTC argued that the list presented no serious constitutional problems and was created under congressional authority in response to concerns about intrusions into consumers' privacy.
Plaintiffs in the Denver case are Mainstream Marketing Services Inc. of Boulder, Colo., and TMG Marketing Inc., a Nebraska company that operates from Denver.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.netscape.cnn.com ...
It culls out lousy prospects like ME.
Obviously if a telemarketer calls me, they are wasting their time.
Better to move on to some brain dead idiot who is so lonely they will talk to anybody.
I've seen these people in front of a congressional committee whining about how they got taken for the THIRD time, "cause they thought they had just got the "deal of the century".
Amazingly, I got called out of the shower three times in two weeks.
C'mon people, the ones who opt not to be bothered have that right!
This is one of the very few things the government has gotten right.
You folks who don't value your privacy deserve to be harrassed!
It's a horrible hassle and doesn't accomplish much.
Lately I've been getting "dead line" calls which may be computer oriented calls (trying for a modem connedction) orr fax tries or automatic dailed calls which want to leave a 10 minute schpiel about a great trip to Orlando.
I can't begin to describe my anger level.
Hanging up is the only defense, but I had a guy from MCI call me back two more times just to tell me I was rude!
Wonder what court is going to make the call that the federal courts are over-stepping THEIR bounds. This isn't like something that is government imposed ON the people. We CHOOSE whether or not to be on this list. This plague of telemarketing leeches needs to stop!
LOL! Yes, I'm afraid we are. They're far more interested in money and personal power than they are in supporting the Constitution. Problem is, I don't know what to do about it.
Claire Wolfe said (paraphrase) it's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the b$%^&*(#s.
Carolyn
No wonder they're trying so hard to "get the guns".
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