United States National Do Not Call Registry

The National Do Not Call Registry is intended to give U.S. consumers an opportunity to limit the telemarketing

Telemarketing

Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...

calls they receive. To register by telephone (US), consumers may call 1-888-382-1222. The registry was set to begin in 2003, but a court challenge delayed its implementation until 2004. The law provides exceptions to a blanket do-not-call ruling. Separate laws and regulations apply to robocall

Robocall

Robocall is a term for an automated phone call that uses both a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered pre-recorded message. The implication is that a "robocall" resembles a telephone call from a robot...

s in the United States.

Implementation Act

On June 27, 2003, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

(FTC) opened the National Do Not Call Registry in order to comply with the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003 (Public Law No. 108-10, was H.R. 395 of the 108th Congress, and codified at 15 U.S.C. § 6101 et. seq.), sponsored by Representatives Billy Tauzin

Billy Tauzin

Wilbert Joseph Tauzin II , usually known as Billy Tauzin, American lobbyist and politician of Cajun descent, was President and CEO of PhRMA, a pharmaceutical company lobby group...

and John Dingell

John Dingell

John David Dingell, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1955 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...

and signed into law by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

on March 11, 2003. The law established the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry in order to facilitate compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 was passed by the United States Congress in 1991 and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush as Public Law 102-243, amending the Communications Act of 1934. The current version of the statute is found principally at...

.

Registration for the Do-Not-Call list began on June 27, 2003, and enforcement started on October 1, 2003. Since January 1, 2005, telemarketers covered by the registry have up to 31 days (initially the period was 90 days) from the date a number is registered to cease calling that number. Originally, phone numbers remained on the registry for a period of five years, but are now permanent because of the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, effective February 2008.

Cell phone numbers need not be included on the registry to avoid unsolicited calls. FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from calling a cellular phone number with an automatic dialer. In 2005, a rumor began circulating via e-mail that cell phone providers were planning on making their number directories available to telemarketers. The FTC responded by clarifying that cell phones cannot be called by telemarketers. Similarly, fax

Fax

Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...

numbers do not need to be included in the registry due to existing federal laws and regulations that prohibit the sending of unsolicited faxes

Junk fax

Junk faxes are a form of telemarketing where unsolicited advertisements are sent via fax transmission. Junk faxes are the faxed equivalent of spam or junk mail...

.

If a person does not want to register a number on the national registry, he or she can still prohibit individual telemarketers from calling by asking the caller to put the called number on the company’s do-not-call list.

Legal challenges

The do-not-call list was slated to take effect on October 1, 2003, but two federal district court decisions almost delayed it. One from Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

was overcome by special legislation giving the FTC specific jurisdiction over the matter. The other from Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

revolved around questions of regulation of commercial speech

Commercial speech

Commercial Speech is speech done on behalf of a company or individual for the intent of making a profit. It is economic in nature and usually has the intent of convincing the audience to partake in a particular action, often purchasing a specific product...

and threatened to delay implementation of the list. However, President Bush signed a bill authorizing the no-call list to go ahead in September 2003. Finally, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on February 17, 2004, upheld the constitutionality

Constitutionality

Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...

of the law.

Known exceptions

Placing one's number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most, but not all, unsolicited calls. The following are exceptions granted by existing laws and regulations - and these types of organizations can register with donotcall.gov and can purchase telephone lists from the Do Not Call Registry

The registry only applies to residential lines, not to business lines.
A person may still receive calls from political organizations.
- The organization Citizens for Civil Discourse
  Citizens for Civil Discourse
  Citizens for Civil Discourse, also known as CCD, is an American non-profit, non-partisan organization that accepts Robocall block requests from citizens via their website...
  
  has lobbied Congress to close this loophole by developing a National Political Do Not Call Registry where voters can register their phone numbers and ask politicians to take the "Do Not Contact Pledge". Its database is not backed by the force of law and as of November 2008, only 3 politicians running for office signed the pledge.
A person may still receive calls from not-for-profit organizations.
A person may still receive calls from those conducting surveys.
A person may still receive calls from companies with which he or she has an existing business relationship for up to 18 months after his or her last purchase, payment, or delivery from it, unless person specifically asks the company not to call again.
A person may still receive calls from a company up to 31 days after submitting an application or inquiry to that company, unless the company is specifically asked not to call.
A person may still receive calls from bill collectors (either primary creditors or collection agencies
Collection agency
A collection agency is a business that pursues payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed....

). These callers are, however, regulated by other laws, such as those limiting them to calling during "reasonable hours." Some creditors may not call debtors who file for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

protection.

Loopholes

Some attempts have been made by telemarketers to skirt the do-not-call list rules. An example is the Dove Foundation

Dove Foundation

rightThe Dove Foundation is a registered United States tax deductible non-profit organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan known among other programs for its activities of rating, reviewing and endorsing films and for campaigning against the portrayal of sexual activity and violence in Hollywood...

which places "survey" calls and then requests permission for a follow-up call. The follow-up call is through a for-profit company attempting to sell products. This operation resulted in a restraining order in Missouri in March 2006.

Enforcement

Complaints concerning telemarketing calls to homes and personal cell phones can be made to the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

and the Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

.

The Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

has created rules implementing the National Do-Not-Call Implementation Act. These rules are codified at the Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, Section 64.1200. The rules should be consulted in order to determine whether a particular incident violated the rules and can result in enforcement.

In order to create an actionable complaint pursuant to FCC rules, an individual with a home phone or a personal cell phone is required to specify details of the infraction to the FCC. Typically this includes facts such as when the call occurred, the phone number called, the calling organization, the goods or services being marketed, whether the caller has any exemption status. Details of these rules can be found on the FCC's complaint form.

Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007

On February 15, 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the H.R Bill 3541: Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007. Two major changes were enacted through this law:

While originally required to renew their phone numbers every five years, consumers need now only register once to maintain their phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.
The frequency with which the FTC must purge the registry of disconnected and reassigned numbers has also been increased to several times a month. However, the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act prohibits removing numbers from the do-not-call registry unless the number is invalid, disconnected, or reassigned; or the individual to whom the number is assigned so requests.

Results

According to the 2009 Economic Report of the President, prepared by the Council of Economic Advisors,

The program has proved quite popular: as of 2007, according to one survey, 72 percent of Americans had registered on the list, and 77 percent of those say that it made a large difference in the number of telemarketing calls that they receive (another 14 percent
report a small reduction in calls). Another survey, conducted less than a year after the Do Not Call list was implemented, found that people who registered for the list saw a reduction in telemarketing calls from an average of 30 calls per month to an average of 6 per month.

External links

Donotcall.gov Registration page
US Do Not Call Lists By State: Updated List (2/14/08) of states that do and do not have separate no-call lists with links to their online registries.
Missouri No Call home page Missouri residents may also register their number on the Missouri No Call List.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.