Growing tired of those pesky telemarketing calls during the middle of dinner ? Don’t want to buy the latest “gizmo” to zap or block their unsolicited calls ? Well , the federal government has finally heard our complaints loud and clear and help is on the way.
President George W. Bush signed the Omnibus appropriations bill which will provide funding for the Federal Trade Comission (FTC) to develop a national Do Not Call registry in the next several months.
Prior to the establishment of this national registry consumers had limited choices to fight back against the telemarketers:
1) Don’t answer / block / “zap” their calls
2) Hang up on them
3) Request to be placed on their private “Do Not Call” list.
Now however, consumers like us will have the opportunity to sign up for a free national “Do Not Call” registry this summer. Additional details about signing up for the registry and how telemarketers can access it will be detailed later this spring.
Here are some of the details available now: 1) Consumers will be able to register for free online or by calling a toll-free number beginning in July. To handle the onslaught of calls anticipated, sign-up will occur region-by-region over an 8-week period. 2) Telemarketers will be required to “clean” their call lists by matching their list against the national “do not call” list every 90 days starting in September 2003. 3) The FTC and state government will begin to enforce the use of the national “Do Not Call” list in October 2003. Violators are subject to fines of up to $11,000 per violation.
So even if you favorite baseball team isn’t doing well come mid-September, you’ll have at least one thing to look forward to this fall – less annoying telemarketer calls.
James is editor of “TO YOUR CREDIT”, a free
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