www.donotcall.gov

[mrmitchell]

Why in the world is the Federal government getting involved in this? This is so stupid. Let the local or state governments deal with it, the federal gov has much bigger problems, like this little thing called the war on terror!

The state governments are already in budgeting hell, you want them to put up with MORE?

Good concept, but doubtful that it will be foolproof.

[DanS]

CNN is reporting that at 2:30, only 6 hours after going live, 650,000 numbers had been added to the list.

[SlowwHand]

Alright. I'm signing up for it. WTF.
Probably puts the number on additional call lists.

[DanS]

Look on the bright side. You can still get phone calls from President Bush.

[SlowwHand]

Heyyyyy. That's right! Thanks for the reminder.

[chequita guevara]

I got through.

[SlowwHand]

STEP THREE: RECEIVE AN EMAIL

You have submitted your phone number(s) for registration in the National Do Not Call Registry. You should receive an email from Register@donotcall.gov within a few minutes.

Open the email and click on the link provided to complete your registration.

Important: If you do not click on the link in the email within 72 hours, your phone number will not be registered.

This browser window does not need to remain open to complete the registration process.

[The diplomat]

Originally posted by mrmitchell
The state governments are already in budgeting hell, you want them to put up with MORE?

The state gov doesn't have to do anything either. If they want to, fine, if they don't, also fine. It is not a big problem!
The bottom line is that I don't think the fed gov should do it. The fed gov should focus on their constitutional responsabilities like foreign affairs, trade etc... not trivial matters like petty telemarketers or spam email.

Why is it that whenever a group has the smallest problem, they run to the federal government? Our society is becoming like a spoiled child that cries to its parents whenever it gets a scratch.

[Dis]

when I can get on the site, count me in.

They do seem to call at the worst times.

Usually when I'm in a hurry getting ready for work.

But it doesn't include charities . I hate getting all these calls from charities- half of them are probably not actually charities- but scams.

[Mordoch]

Originally posted by Lefty Scaevola
A state progam can only regulate in state to in state calls.

This is actually wrong. Just the other day, Colorado's DA went after a California company for do not call list violations. (Its $2000 in fines for each reported violation, and $10,000 each if the victim is over 60!) The Colorado law is quite effective, the only noticible exception to the law is non-profit organizations and they call rather rarely. Over 1.1 million numbers are on the Colorado do not call list, and its probably the most popular law EVER passed by the state government.

http://www.gryphonnetworks.com/regulatory/stateDetail.asp?state=CO

[Berzerker]

Here's an irony to this story, apparently a business owner has a similar 888 number and so many people have called him to sign up, he's been driven out of business. The phone company is charging him, he estimated, $60,000 for all the calls and he already spent ~$50,000 promoting his existing phone number. Now isn't that just great? Government sets out to protect us from unwanted calls and they bankrupt a guy because of unwanted calls resulting from the government action...

[Mordoch]

Originally posted by The diplomat
The state gov doesn't have to do anything either. If they want to, fine, if they don't, also fine. It is not a big problem!
The bottom line is that I don't think the fed gov should do it. The fed gov should focus on their constitutional responsabilities like foreign affairs, trade etc... not trivial matters like petty telemarketers or spam email.

Why is it that whenever a group has the smallest problem, they run to the federal government? Our society is becoming like a spoiled child that cries to its parents whenever it gets a scratch.

What you are missing is that without any state law, you have essentially no recourse if a telemarketer calls. You MIGHT be able to sue, but the odds of collecting any money are really remote. Strategies such as telemarketer blocking devices and keeping your number unlisted have only limited success and inconvenience the individual citizen. Telemarketers take up people's valuable time and tie up their phone lines trying to sell items which the majority of us have no intention of purchasing. Telemarketers also attempt to confuse and trick their victims, particularly the elderly into making foolish purchases. Its certainly the right of the government to make laws which are for the benefit of society as a whole and strongly supported by its citizenry. Spam has the potential to eventually make email unusable and it certainly makes sense for the government to take steps to deal with this problem.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Berzerker
Here's an irony to this story, apparently a business owner has a similar 888 number and so many people have called him to sign up, he's been driven out of business. The phone company is charging him, he estimated, $60,000 for all the calls and he already spent ~$50,000 promoting his existing phone number. Now isn't that just great? Government sets out to protect us from unwanted calls and they bankrupt a guy because of unwanted calls resulting from the government action...

so you blame the goverment for the actions of stupid people?

I fail to see the logic in that.

[JohnT]

God, all this trouble because people can't hang up on salesmen. tsk-tsk.

[The diplomat]

Originally posted by Mordoch
What you are missing is that without any state law, you have essentially no recourse if a telemarketer calls.

If the state gov wants to make a law against telemarketers, that's fine.

I don't see what the problem is. I get telemarketers all the time. I say that I am not interested, and I hang up. No big deal! I don't think that telemarketers are a serious problem. They are not much of a nuisance, and they are a legit business.

So, if the state gov wants to make a law because the people in the state consider it a problem, that is fine. State rights!

But I personally do not see telemarketers as a problem!