Court blocks national "Do Not Call" registry

[Brian]

http://money.netscape.cnn.com/story....SMO102&sc=1310


Judge Rules Against Do-Not-Call Registry
By JENNIFER L. BROWN

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.

[PZelda]

I heard about it this morning.

[Lucylover22]

That's stupid!

[dawsongirl]

Let's call that judge at all hours of the day and night and try to sell him crap. Maybe he'll realize how f**king annoying those calls are.

[PZelda]

Originally posted by dawsongirl
Let's call that judge at all hours of the day and night and try to sell him crap. Maybe he'll realize how f**king annoying those calls are.

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like that idea! to telemarketers!

[robyrob]

[PZelda]

Originally posted by robyrob

[Mysty Eyes]

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.

You'd think the governments of both the country and each and every state in the union would get a clue:

PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THESE INTRUSIVE, ANNOYING TELEPHONE CALLS!

We shouldn't have to request that we not be called. All of these calls should be illegal. The only calls that should be allowed at all would be those for charities.

I rarely answer my phone anymore. I'll just continue to screen all of my phone calls, like I've been doing for the last year or so.

Ugh!

[Mijada]

That sucks. As far as I'm concerned it's up to me to decide who I want or don't want calling me. I'm the one who pays the phone bill so I should have a say in whether or not I want these people bothering me, not the government. Those people are so annoying and refuse to take NO for an answer.

[.simpson_10.]

[BrandonS]

Originally posted by .simpson_10.

What is this photo and what does it have to do with the thread topic?

[.simpson_10.]

Originally posted by BrandonS
What is this photo and what does it have to do with the thread topic?

Click Here To Find Out

[robyrob]

Originally posted by Mijada
That sucks. As far as I'm concerned it's up to me to decide who I want or don't want calling me. I'm the one who pays the phone bill so I should have a say in whether or not I want these people bothering me, not the government. Those people are so annoying and refuse to take NO for an answer.

"oooooh -but what about all the cr@ppy jobs that will be lost if this goes through!!!!" that ticks me off- they act like these are well-paying jobs that would lead to something better for people, but most of them are fly-by-night operations taking advantage of college students, and traps them in this special level of hell

[Chocoholic]

I don't think that requesting that telemarketers not call is illegal. I think harassing people by calling them when they don't wish to be called or selling things door-to-door should be illegal.

[Hollow]