[ql06] PUBLIC: U.S. "Do-Not-Call" Registry -- Part I
- From: "Ken Campbell -- LAW'06" <2kc16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 04:55:07 -0400
Court says FTC effectively exceeded authority (derived from statute, but
flowing from the constitution).
Legislature will counter with move to make it clear the authority
exists.
Ken.
--
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.
-- H.G. Wells
--- cut here ---
Federal Court Strikes Down National Do-Not-Call Registry
WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
September 24 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal judge invalidated the national do-not-call
registry just days before it was due to take effect, saying the Federal
Trade Commission overstepped its authority in creating the list to block
telemarketers.
The ruling, issued Tuesday, came in a lawsuit brought by telemarketers
who challenged the list, comprised of names of people who don't want to
receive business solicitation calls. The list was to go into effect Oct.
1.
But since the court didn't issue an order directing an action by the
FTC, the immediate impact of the ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee R.
West wasn't clear.
"Admittedly, the elimination of telemarketing fraud and the prohibition
against deceptive and abusive telemarketing acts or practices are
significant public concerns," Judge West wrote in a 19-page opinion. But
an agency's power to regulate "must always be grounded in a valid grant
of authority from Congress."
On Capitol Hill, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy
Tauzin (R., La.), and Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.) said Wednesday they
were confident the ruling would be overturned.
"Contrary to the court's decision, we firmly believe Congress gave the
FTC authority to implement the national do-not-call list," they said in
a joint statement. "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."
The Direct Marketing Association, the trade group that was one of the
plaintiffs in the suit, 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."
An FTC spokeswoman said the agency had received the opinion but couldn't
comment further until reviewing it.
The telemarketing industry estimates that the do-not-call list could cut
its business in half, costing it up to $50 billion in sales each year.
More than a dozen state with do-not-call lists plan to add their lists
to the national registry this summer, the FTC said. 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 suit was filed by U.S. Security, Chartered Benefit Services Inc.,
Global Contact Services Inc., InfoCision Management Corp. and Direct
Marketing Association Inc.
=======
FROM THE ARCHIVES: September 4, 2003
'Do Not Call' List Soars to 48.4 Million
WASHINGTON -- Six million more consumers added their names to the
National Do Not Call Registry over Labor Day weekend, the Federal Trade
Commission said, bringing to 48.4 million the number of telephones that
will be off-limits to most telemarketers starting Oct. 1.
The agency previously set Aug. 31 as the deadline to make the Oct. 1
edition of the "do not call" list.
From now on, it will take 90 days after a consumer signs up for the
registry on the Internet or over the phone to be on a "do not call"
list.
Some consumers with spam filters on their e-mail inboxes have had
difficulty receiving and responding to the e-mail required to confirm a
request to join the list. The FTC said those who haven't received
confirming e-mails should use its toll-free phone number:
1-888-382-1222.
--The Wall Street Journal
=======
'Do Not Call' Roster Debuts
Curbs on Telemarketers Set to Cut Calls Up to 80%
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
FROM THE ARCHIVES: June 27, 2003
WASHINGTON -- Under intense public pressure, the federal government is
rolling out a national "do not call" list designed to allow Americans to
hang up on telemarketers for good.
Beginning Friday, customers interested in ridding themselves of calls
from telemarketers can register their phone numbers online for free at a
new Web site, www.donotcall.gov. Consumers living in the western half of
the country can register by phone at (888) 382-1222, and the rest of the
country can do so at the same number beginning July 7. When the program
formally takes effect Oct. 1, telemarketers who call those on the list
will face fines of as much as $11,000 per call.
In a sign of the strong political momentum behind the initiative,
President Bush plans to formally announce it Friday morning at a Rose
Garden ceremony with the chairmen of the Federal Trade Commission and
Federal Communications Commission.
The FTC took the lead in creating the program, which will be
administered by AT&T Corp. and funded with money collected from the
telemarketing firms who will have to pay to check it, by law, every
three months. But because the FTC's jurisdiction doesn't cover telephone
companies, banks and several other heavy users of telemarketing, the FCC
voted 5-0 Friday to expand the program to cover those industries. The
FCC move also covers faxes and calls made within a state, plugging a
hole left by the FTC's authority to police only interstate calls.
The FCC released data, based on industry estimates, showing that
telemarketers make as many as 104 million calls daily to homes and
businesses.
Politicians, survey-taking organizations and nonprofit groups, however,
will still be able to call those on the list, and companies that have an
existing business relationship with a consumer can continue to call them
for 18 months after the program takes effect.
FTC officials said they expect the list ultimately will top 60 million
phone numbers, and that those on the list can expect the number of
telemarketing calls they receive to fall as much as 80%. Nearly 20
million phone numbers already are on "do not call" lists run by 27
states, and 14 million of those numbers will be automatically
transferred to the federal list. The five million to six million numbers
belonging to citizens of states such as Texas and Wisconsin, however,
will need to add their number to the FTC list.
Consumers who receive calls after the list takes effect need to write
down the offending company's name and phone number, and than file the
complaint with the FTC through the Web site or toll free number. If the
FTC finds the complaint to be justified, the companies face violations
of as much as $11,000 per call.
The idea of a comprehensive "do not call" list has been wildly popular
since the FTC first announced it last year, but putting it into place
has been a legal and political struggle. The main opponent, the Direct
Marketing Association, a telemarketing trade group, filed suit in
January accusing the FTC of overstepping its legal authority and
impinging on telemarketers' First Amendment rights.
"The court case speaks to the issue of the constitutionality of this
entire idea, so nothing the FCC or FTC has done changes our desire to
move it forward," said DMA President Robert Wientzen.
Mr. Wientzen said the two agencies' decision to offer a single federal
list was the right one, but said it was unfair for telemarketers to have
to pay $7,000 a year to access the government list when they can use a
similar "do not call" list run by his organization for just $700 a year.
The FTC also had faced a minor political storm earlier this year when it
announced that AT&T would run the program, even though federal records
showed AT&T has attracted the most telemarketing complaints in recent
years. All told, consumers filed 5,714 complaints with the FCC over
AT&T's use of telemarketing in 2001, 2002 and the first quarter of 2003.
Many of the consumers said the long-distance giant failed to put them on
its internal "do not call" list and continued to call even after they
had asked to stop.
David Torok, the FTC program manager for the list, said the
telemarketing complaints didn't play into the agency's decision-making
process because they took place in a different AT&T division from the
one operating the registry. He added that AT&T, which will be paid $3.5
million this year to manage the list, was "the best value" they found.
--John R. Wilke contributed to this article
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