Do not Call List Blocked

[Stephanie]

This decision did not come from the West coast either...

http://www.msnbc.com/news/971221.asp?vts=092420030955

[j]

my oh my..aren't the Courts just hopping busy these days. A viscious cycle of suits, counter-suits, appeals....

This one will be over-turned too, I trust..(I hope)

[Stephanie]

I hope so too. We all have the right to choose whether we want to receive calls or not. We already choose who we give out our phone numbers to. Why should we have allow telemarketers to have access to our phone numbers?

[Guest]

I know everyone hates when telemarketers call. But I can't help but speak my mind here. If this do not call list goes into effect, do you realize how many more people will be unemployed? It's a HUGE job market. And before anyone goes bashing telemarketers, let me say that I am a former telemarketer. It's not because I'm a lazy SOB who can't get a "real" job. It not only helps pay the bills, but these types of employers are most flexible with student's schedules, such as mine. If a solicitor does call, just tell them to please remove your name from their list. I can tell you first hand that the polites ones are the ones you want to help most. And if they continues to call AFTER you asked to be removed, then go ahead and sock it to them! What I'm trying to say is in an economy like ours, we shouldn't be pushing to eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Don't want a telemarketer to call? Then do this:
1. Do not sign up for sweepstakes!
2. Get a non-published phone number.
3. When you submit your phone number online or on any paper form, watch for boxes usually near the bottom by your signature. You can usually place a check on a box to not be contacted for solicitation purposes.
4. Do you want to know who to be really mad at? Your mortgage company, your insurance company, etc. These companies SELL your info to telemarketing firms. Check out the privacy policy of all the companies you use. You can usually send in a letter stating you don't want your information shared.

[Rainband]

I hope so too. We all have the right to choose whether we want to receive calls or not. We already choose who we give out our phone numbers to. Why should we have allow telemarketers to have access to our phone numbers?

But political telemarketers are exempt and still allowed to call :o I have a friend who owns a carpet cleaning business w/o telemarketing he'd lose his butt. I just hang up o them if I am not interested There are alot of people who make their livings doing it..part time job for kids in high school and seniors..etc I hope it doesn't get reinacted Thats why I have caller ID and an answering machine.. A little inconveinience is ok when it comes to someones livelyhood IMHO

[Rainband]

I agree Jen

[Guest]

There are alot of people who make their livings doing it..part time job for kids in high school and seniors..etc I hope it doesn't get reinacted Thats why I have caller ID and an answering machine.. A little inconveinience is ok when it comes to someones livelyhood IMHO

Most telemarketers are high school and college students. The rest are generally people who have been layed off or are out of work and need to make money to keep a roof over their head. Thanks for the support Rainband.

I just want to add one other thing. Hanging up on telemarketers does not stop them from calling. Telemarketers have bosses too and they don't consider a hang-up a "no interest". State that you'd like your name removed from their list, then hang up.

[Lindaloo]

Well regardless, I hope it is overturned. It is not just the above you mentioned mrs. chad. These companies can even scan your private credit reports and they send out calls or pre-approved junk mail. They will just find a new way to solicit and save those jobs.

[Stephanie]

I understand about the loss of jobs, but to me it's different when you enter a store and a saleperson steps up and asks you if you need help from having some calling me with offers on things I don't need. Don't call me, I'll call you.

If we all ended up requesting that our phone numbers are removed from their lists and we all click on the little boxes on an online form, that would technically end up cutting jobs too.

[GalvestonDuck]

I'm on the list, but I still get calls. I simply tell them I'm on the no-call list and to please remove my name. I've never been one for hanging up on people...that's just me. I do get annoyed by the messages on my answering machine because I can't respond to them unless they leave a number and then I have to call them back.

There's still junk mail in my mail box, spam in my email, pop-ups on my computer, billboards on the highway, advertising circulars falling out of my newspaper, and informercials all over the TV. I go to the movies and I see commercials shown on the big screen in addition to the previews.

And then I go to the beach and a plane flies overhead with an ad banner for Moody Gardens.

If there's a way to advertise, they'll find it.

[JQ Public]

I really don't think its a big deal with the phone call situation and all. As long as they aren't calling me at 1am or smthg insane like that i can just hang up the phone. I have bigger things to stress over you know?

[Danaus]

You all have forgotten to mention the saving point in the national do not call registry (for telemarketers that is). ANY company with which you have done business in the past year and their affiliates is EXEMPT from the law. I get more calls from companies I do business with than anyone else. And then they wonder why I won't give them my phone number.

[j]

You all have forgotten to mention the saving point in the national do not call registry (for telemarketers that is). ANY company with which you have done business in the past year and their affiliates is EXEMPT from the law. I get more calls from companies I do business with than anyone else. And then they wonder why I won't give them my phone number.

Just to expand on the "who can still bug the living **** out of you" list:

- Political parties are excepted from the ban. Even if you sign up, you will still get calls from the RNC, asking you to help re-elect the President, or the DNC, asking you to help defeat him. Is that less annoying than a call from the guy who wants to sell you Direct TV?

- You will also still get calls from the state troopers association and other charities, asking for money for all manner of things - most of which will go to the telemarketers and very little to the charities they represent.

- Another exemption is "the business of insurance." Why would they exempt insurance businesses and no others? What's up with that?

- People conducting telephone surveys are also exempt.

- and...just to give an example of the "businesses that you've done business with in the past 18 months"..take your Visa card company. They can still call and try to get you to sign up for one of their 'bonus' services...over and over and over again!!!!!

Now...a little more info on the what has happened with this list:

First, the Federal Trade Commission created the 'do not call' list and tens of millions of people signed up to try to stop annoying telemarketing calls. Then, a federal judge stopped the implementation of the program, saying the FTC overstepped its authority. Next, Congress voted in one day to reinstate the list, using its authority to supplant that of the FTC. Finally, another judge ordered the list blocked again, saying this time that it's a violation of the free speech rights of the telemarketers.

The ruling is yet another in a long string of federal judge misinterpretations of the 1st amendment. You'd think judges would be smarter than that. The first amendment protects your right to speak. It does not protect your right to speak in my living room. I am still the master of my house, in which the phone sits. If I don't want you in my house, I have the right to deny you entrance. Since the phone line comes into the house, you can enter anytime you wish unless I have a tool to stop you. The 'do not call' list is a tool that the FTC offers if I choose to use it.

[Guest]

There are some 30,000 telemarketing businesses in the United States. Now imagine the layoffs that will occur if this national do-not-call list is enacted. How is today's job market by the way? Have you looked for a job in recent times? We all can agree that it's more difficult to get a job now than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Now think about the FLOOD of unemployed telemarketers that will hit the job market. Not only will unemployment rates SOAR but there will be STIFF competition for available work with the influx of the former telemarketing industry. So if you or your brother or your neighbor were to get layed off AFTER the layoff of the telemarketing industry, imagine the difficulty in finding a job. And you may think that a telemarketer doesn't have the experience or skills to win over a position that someone such as yourself is applying for. Let me remind you that telemarketers are salespeople and the key to an interview is "selling yourself" to the prospective employer. So not only will telemarketers be hitting the already strained job market, but many of them will fall back on welfare, I'm sure. And where does that money come from? All of our pockets! Before you decide to thoroughly stand behind the national do-not-call list, think about the repurcussions that will affect me, you, your family, and your friends. Are you sure you want to do this?

[blizzard]

What happens with my right to privacy? Caller ID does not let me know when a telemarketer is calling, because they are all listed as "unavailable" they should at least be required to have their name and number show on caller ID. Then they can call all they want, I wil just not answer the phone if I am not interested. I realize that they need jobs too, but I would rather have less irritation in my life.

[GalvestonDuck]

- You will also still get calls from the state troopers association and other charities, asking for money for all manner of things - most of which will go to the telemarketers and very little to the charities they represent.

What's up with that anyway? How many "associations" are there? I've had calls from the TX State Troopers Assn., the TX Police Chiefs Assn., and the TX Highway Patrolmen's Assn. How do I know if they're all legit anyway? They always throw out that bait about how the funds help benefit a trooper who is injured in the line of duty. And I get a cute sticker for my car.

[j]

not to get off subject..but that is why you have to pick and choose who you donate money too. There are too many supposedly "good" and charitable organizations out there (United way as an example), that have high overhead and little to no accountability for money in - money out.

A My own personal rule of thumb is to never donate money due to solicitation.

[weatherlover427]

I pray to Him that this law takes effect on Wednesday. Telemarketers are sooooo annoying that I can't stand them anymore. I am thinking of changing my phone # soon because of all the annoying calls that I get.

[Guest]

I am thinking of changing my phone # soon because of all the annoying calls that I get.

Get an unpublished number.