Ferderal jobs

The Federal Trade Commission’s “Do Not Call List” was touted as a great achievement in personal privacy and indeed many people jumped on the bandwagon early to get their name on the list. Yet as the Do Not Call Law was passed we saw many loopholes, such as politicians who were calling for campaign contributions are exempt; Go figure?

The FTC was put in charge of the Do Not Call List and started taking consumer complaints, which were well into the millions. In fact just trying to sign up for the list took down the FTC servers as millions tried to sign up. The FTC used this fact in a report to Congress to increase their FY 2007 Budget citing it as one example of their many achievements in FY 2005.

Enforcing the National Do Not Call Registry to Stop Unwanted Telemarketing Calls.

“Since opening in June 2003, the National Do Not Call Registry has registered more than 110 million telephone numbers. The Registry protects consumer privacy by prohibiting most telemarketing calls to consumers who register their telephone numbers on the list. The Registry has been a significant success; one recent accolade came from Yahoo! which ranked the launch of the FTC’s Do Not Call Web site as one of the top 100 moments on the Web over the last 10 years. According to a Harris Interactive poll published in January 2006, 76 percent of all U.S. adults say that they have registered their telephone numbers and 91 percent of those registered said they have received no or fewer calls than before they registered. Although compliance with this law has been very high, the FTC has received 1.4 million consumer complaints since October 2003, and enforcement remains a top priority. In December 2005, the FTC announced more than $5 million in civil penalties against companies that violated the Do Not Call Rule.”

Even by their own admission the Do Not Call List prohibits but does not prevent “MOST” not all telemarketers from calling registered consumers. It is often interesting when a Federal Agency cites surveys from online companies like Yahoo or AOL both of which are now trying to figure out a way to dodge the CAN-SPAM Act and charge businesses to send you unsolicited email advertisements? What do you think? Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Share This