Do Not Call Listings to Expire in 2008

Ant writes "Yahoo! News report that the cherished dinner hour void of telemarketers could vanish next year for millions of people when phone numbers begin dropping off the national/United States (U.S.)'s Do Not Call list. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which oversees the list, says there is a simple fix. But some lawmakers think it is a hassle to expect people to re-register their phone numbers every five years. Numbers placed on the registry, begun in June 2003, are valid for five years. For the millions of people who signed onto the list in its early days, their numbers will automatically drop off beginning next June if they do not enroll again."

Does the DNC list even mean anything?

[by Anonymous Coward]

My mobile # is on the DNC list and I still get calls. I have filed complaints with them and still get the same people calling over and over again. Emperion Marketing (505 647 9618)is my worst offender. I keep getting calls from these asshats, though I have called them and told them to take me off the list. I have filed 4 complaints about them and it hasn't done a thing.

BTW, register your number here https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx [donotcall.gov]

Re:Does the DNC list even mean anything?

[GreyPoopon (411036)]

keep getting calls from these asshats, though I have called them and told them to take me off the list. I have filed 4 complaints about them and it hasn't done a thing.

You do realize that you can take them to small claims court yourself, right? I strongly suggest that you keep a log of their calls and anything you tell them.

Re:Does the DNC list even mean anything?

[drspliff (652992)]

I had a call today from a company trying to offer me a loan, did the usual stuff asking them to remove me from whatever list I was on and to stop calling - they said to call back on a number (national rate, about 10p a min) only to get transferred to the "customer relations" department which never picked up.

Then 3 hours later I get an advertisment SMS from the same company, call back up, get transferred again, and the "customer relations" department never picked up - again.

I've been on the UK TPS (Telephone Preference Service, the UK do not call list) for several years, but still get these stupid companies calling up that I have no idea who they are (so obviously they cant have a previous "relationship" with me).

I finally got through to the customer relations department after 20 minutes on hold, explained to them that they can be fined upto £5000 for every offence only to be told I have to write in to their marketing department to get it removed.

I mean seriously, WTF! I've spent about £5 on phone calls today just trying to sort it out with this asshole company, only to be flogged off with a standard excuse and a PObox address.

Re:

[drspliff (652992)]

The irony of this is that the company I work for probably provides the 0870 number I called them on.

Either way, their abusing the TPS by following the guidelines but presuming that people won't go to the hassle of reporting them or mailing in to get themselfs removed from the list.

I really can't be bothered to go through the trouble of taking this to court, when they'll probably prove that I have a "technical" prior relationship with them through some sister company (any company I've entered my telephone nu

Re:

[Stripe7 (571267)]

Anyone telemarketer or charity who calls me loses any chance business with me. I hang up take note of who called and never do business with them again.

Re:

[hedwards (940851)]

True, but with commercial ventures you can opt out if you have a business relationship with them. although what that actually is tends to be somewhat vague.

Nonprofits tend to be the worst, and they are left completely unregulated. During the campaign season it gets really bad, with 7 or 8 calls a night from a computer program to deliver a message. I usually hang up on them.

Even during the rest of the year we frequently get calls from somebody that isn't on the other end of the phone, usually all I get is a

Re:

[nurb432 (527695)]

Those 'dead lines' are often automated dialer's. Once they get a connection they notify the first available person.

I think they are banned here in my area. If you are going to bug me, you have to do it yourself :)

Re:Does the DNC list even mean anything?

[mhall119 (1035984)]

Even during the rest of the year we frequently get calls from somebody that isn't on the other end of the phone, usually all I get is a click and several seconds of silence. Those I just hang up on, if they can't be bothered to be present when I answer, I'm certainly not going to consider it important enough to wait for them to come to the phone.

A better solution is to _not_ hang up, because once you hang up it frees a phone line for them to call someone else, every second you keep the line open reduces their call rate, which reduces the money they make. I frequently ask telemarketers to "hold on just a second" and put the phone on the table for like 5 minutes. Amusingly, sometimes the telemarketer is still there waiting, in which case I tell them "sorry, I'll be just one more second" and go about whatever I was doing for another 5-10 minutes.

Re:

[QMO (836285)]

I've done a couple of things like that.

Once I asked to speak to a manager, which meant that I was using the phone line and 2 people. When the mnanager got on, I explained that I was just trying to make that business model a little less profitable.

Once I offered to sell the telemarketer something (a doorstop-oblolete computer for $3000), and got pretty insistent about it.

Re:

[mhall119 (1035984)]

All I need is some truly horrible hold music...

I have toddlers.

Re:

[Drathos (1092)]

During the campaign season it gets really bad, with 7 or 8 calls a night from a computer program to deliver a message. I usually hang up on them.

You think that's bad? Last fall, I came home from spending a half day with some friends to find 34 messages on my machine. Almost all of them were a recording: 'This was a political survey call. We'll try again later.'

Then there was 'The Battle of the Answering Machine.' Opposing candidates were leaving pre-recorded messages on my machine smearing each other. Final tally was 178 messages (nearly 50-50 split) over the span of 3 weeks. Gotta love Virginia campaigning..

Re:

[dwarfking (95773)]

This is supposed to be true, but I keep getting hit with a loophole that I can't get anyone to do anything about.

I moved 2 years ago and got a new number, which had previously been assigned to some woman who apparently bought all kinds of pharmaceuticals by phone. To this day we get calls 3 - 4 times a week from a call center manned by folks that speak accented English trying to sell us drugs. We tell them over and over to remove the number from their list.

Once I finally got the idiot to put a superviso

Re:

[Lord Apathy (584315)]

Fuck the DNC list. When I had a land line, don't have this problem anymore, a few years ago. I figured there was only one way to handle it and build myself a call screening box. Here's how it worked. I got a modem that did the caller id thing. Then I sniffed around and found a program that would screen my calls. There where tons of them but the links I had to the free one are no longer any good. Do a google search I guess to find them now.

Here is how it worked. I had two lists a fuck off list and

Re:

[Oliver Wendell Jones (158103)]

I have a fancy Caller ID box that does the same thing. In addition to Caller ID and a phone directory, it has two additional lists - a Pager list and a Block list. Numbers you add to the Pager list will cause the box to dial your pager when you receive a call, and the Block list will pick up, wait a half second and then hang up - the phone does ring the one time which is still a bit annoying, but if you make it a point to wait for a second ring then you know that it's not one of the phone numbers you have

Not that tricky

[PlatyPaul (690601)]

Signing up on a web form every 5 years - 10 minutes Avoiding telemarketing phone calls during dinner, sex, and sleep - Priceless.

Re:

[generica1 (193760)]

That's what I was thinking - "so what, it takes only a few minutes to sign back up again."

Well worth the effort, compared to the alternative. At least there is a mechanism in place to get your number(s) off the list, because that was once not the case.

Re:Not that tricky

[antifoidulus (807088)]

Man, you have a regular eating schedule, get laid, and actually have time to sleep instead of spending all nighters at the office? I have to call your geek credentials into question.....

Just out of curiosity, have you tried doing all 3 of those at the same time?

Re:Not that tricky

[Chineseyes (691744)]

Man, you have a regular eating schedule, get laid, and actually have time to sleep...........

Don't be too jealous of the parent his regular meals are a step above pig feed, he gets laid(raped) by his his cellmate bubba, and his cries himself to sleep.

Re:

[Mr. Underbridge (666784)]

Signing up on a web form every 5 years - 10 minutes Avoiding telemarketing phone calls during dinner, sex, and sleep - Priceless.

That's some messed up priorities. If the kids are asleep and I'm having 'relations' with my wife...well, there ain't anybody important enough to be calling me that won't be waiting. That phone can ring all it wants.

Re:

[hazem (472289)]

Try a Barry White ringtone... it works so well you'll be begging for telemarketers to call just to get her in the mood.

Re:Not that tricky

[gardyloo (512791)]

Ah, yes, because whatever the hamster is doing, it's going to be *more* disturbed by having a cell phone ring.

Re:

[sumdumass (711423)]

Well, there are other things you can do to stop th calls. Firmly telling them to take you off the list and any lists they have you associated with and not calling back again works. In some areas, it is the law.

You can also do so by checking the stuff you sign and put your phone number too. I started getting calls about some free vacation and all I had to do was pay for a guest to show up. Interestingly enough, I told them to not call back and they explained they had a working relationship with me so I asked

Simple

[awkScooby (741257)]

They should just hire some telemarketers to call people during dinner, to see if they would like to re-register for the do not call list...

Let it expire ...

[Average_Joe_Sixpack (534373)]

I'm lonely

people move, numbers change

[OrangeTide (124937)]

It's only fair that the enrollment is not permanent otherwise one day the list would include nearly every number. Even if some people who originally registered have switched numbers (moved to a different area code for example) or are deceased.

An everlasting list would be equivalent to a soft ban on telemarketing. If you really want to do that, just do that instead. For now 5 years seems perfectly reasonable for me to re-register.

How will I know when to enroll again? When I start getting annoying calls after 5pm.

Re:people move, numbers change

[belmolis (702863)]

No, there's another mechanism for dealing with this. Numbers are automatically removed from the do-not-call list when they are disconnected or reassigned.

Re:what happened to privacy?

[belmolis (702863)]

What I described is the existing procedure, not necessarily what I want. In any case, the phone companies don't need to submit identifying information, just a list of phone numbers. And note that this information is publicly available anyhow, with somewhat more effort. The government can easily enough check whether a phone number has been changed, as can you.

Re:

[geekoid (135745)]

Then people could just take their new number off.

Or even better the phone company should put you on or take you off for you.
Hell, that makes the most sense.

Re:people move, numbers change

[pete-classic (75983)]

Actually, opt-in makes the most sense.

-Peter

Re:

[PlatyPaul (690601)]

To play devil's advocate, consider how you don't have to change your number [fcc.gov] when you switch cell or telephone providers. Unless you really want a local number (which a lot of people don't care about these days, due to the free long distance provided with most cell plans), you really don't have any incentive to switch numbers. Forcing them to die out, then, could seem arbitrary.

Thanks

[jtroutman (121577)]

Thanks for the reminder, I just re-signed up. Can you post this story again in five years so I'll remember to do it then to?

Irony continued...

[packetmon (977047)]

So I tried to call my local representative to have a word in with him about this and he hung up claiming he was on some form of Do Not Call list. Can you imagine that?

How many?

[Generic Guy (678542)]

I'd say five years is a pretty good amount of time. What percent of the population keep a number for that long, anyway?

If the Do-Not-Call list were to never expire, eventually it will fill to all available U.S. phone numbers. We might as well simply impose a Telemarketer Banning Law in that case.

Re:How many?

[RedSteve (690399)]

If the Do-Not-Call list were to never expire, eventually it will fill to all available U.S. phone numbers.

Um...so what would the problem be with that?

Re:

[Raul654 (453029)]

If the Do-Not-Call list were to never expire, eventually it will fill to all available U.S. phone numbers.

Except the people who intentionally remove their numbers. In other words, instead of being an opt-out system, it's opt-in. This is the way it should be.

Re:

[DragonWriter (970822)]

What percent of the population keep a number for that long, anyway?

Probably almost everyone who doesn't move outside of a local exchange (that is, excluding people that rotate numbers because they are repeated targets of harrassment); I'd expect probably a sizable majority of people and a slightly smaller majority of phone numbers (as second and additional lines may be more transitory.)

If the Do-Not-Call list were to never expire, eventually it will fill to all available U.S. phone numbers.

It would make so

A hassle?

[Mundocani (99058)]

> But some lawmakers think it is a hassle to expect people to re-register their phone numbers every five years

I'd like to know who seriously thinks re-registering every five years is a hassle. I registered five years ago and I'll renew the registration before it expires soon. Big f**king deal. I saw this story several weeks ago with a similar sensational headline which implies the whole system will auto-destruct soon. Both times I felt misled by the reporters, not by the governments list.

Not re-registering

[Drathos (1092)]

I for one will not be re-registering my number. Hopefully it will get me fewer calls. The DNC has been a nightmare for me as my call volume has increased at least ten fold since it started. I'd rather get four or five calls a week with people who I can tell to take me off their list (what I used to get) than the 10+ calls a day from autodialers with forged Caller ID and noone on the other end of the line (so they can't be reported).

Knowing my luck, however, I will get both..

Can't They Send a Reminder?

[Slashdot Parent (995749)]

They have an email address associated with each phone number. Why can't they send out a reminder 6 months before your number's expiration so you can renew?

FYI- You can renew your Do Not Call registrations at any time, even if they are not about to expie. I renewed all my numbers today, despite some of them not expiring for over a year.

Reminder

[Dmala (752610)]

It's not a big deal to have to renew, but it would be nice if you could opt in for an e-mail reminder or something. There's pretty much zero chance I could remember on my own before it expired. I dropped off the list temporarily when I moved recently and had to change my phone number. My phone pretty much rang non-stop from the moment it was connected to the moment (a week later) when it got added to the list. I had kind of forgotten how irritating the constant harassment could be.

Simple Fix

[Joebert (946227)]

Why not just leave the numbers on the list untill the number changes hands or is disconnected ?

This 5 year bit sounds like somthing to keep lobbyists from crying.

Why cron was invented

[giminy (94188)]

0 0 1 1 * wget --post-data 'ctlACPH1:txtAreaCode=<your area code>&ctlACPH1:txtPhone=<your phone number>&ctlEmail:txtEmail=<your email>&txtConfirmEmail=<your email again>' https://www.donotcall.gov/Register/Reg.aspx [donotcall.gov]

You could wrap the wget in an if-block to see if the year is divisible by 5, but I'm lazy.

Reid

Re:

[AeroIllini (726211)]

Yeah, but that assumes the page won't change in five years. Better to just do this:

0 0 1 1 * echo "Don't forget to update your numbers here: https://www.donotcall.gov/Register/Reg.aspx [donotcall.gov] - Yourself" > tmp && mail -s "Renew your Do-Not-Call registry!" <your-email> < tmp

If you want to stay off telemarketer phone lists

[AnalogDiehard (199128)]

Then get an unpublished (not unlisted) phone number.

I've moved twice in the past six years, both times I got an unpublished number. When a telemarketer called, they were informed that this was an unpublished number and to please put it on their DNC list. That brought all telemarketing calls to a screeching halt.

When I started my new job last year I moved to a new city and ordered a second land line phone number with distinctive ring for off duty support for work emergencies. Both numbers are unpublished. After the first couple of false alarms with telemarketers calling the "hot line", they stopped real fast.

It does not cost much more for unpublished numbers.

As a former telemarketer

[ttapper04 (955370)]

We have to make all the calls through a "filter" of sorts, it references "the list." We also had the ability to add people to the list, and were mandated to do so upon request. Our company faced stiff penalties for calling people on the list as well.

Bottom line:Tell the first telemarketer who calls you to add you to the list.

A quick side note: The bank of phone numbers my company would call could be sorted by name, age, race, income, marital status, and sexual preference. I recall a time when we payed another company $1100 for a list of gay people in Illinois. No kidding.

Last night

[Dunbal (464142)]

Funny, I got a call last night from a telemarketer that went something like this:

      "Hi Mr. So and so? I wonder if you had a minute so I could remind you that your telephone number will be off the "Do Not Call list" next year, and to offer you our automatic "Do Not Call" list renewal service. For just $1.95 a month our company will track your telephone number and automatically renew your status on this list for you every five years..."

      I'm joking, of course. But how far away are we from this? :)

Do Not Call -- Ha..

[by Anonymous Coward]

I added all my numbers, phone and fax, to the do not call list, back when do-not-call started,
and it was the first thing I did after establishing a new phone whenever I moved, and I still
get about two calls a day to the voice line, and one or two junk faxes a day. Sometimes more.

I have a two inch pile of junk faxes from 2006; I kept them all, just to see
how many I get. I also get regular automated voice calls for the same crap over and over;
credit card debt relief and to clean my rugs (I have hardwood floors, and no credit card debt).
At least it's easy to tell it's a recording and just hang up.. but the same thing over and over?
Someone's wasting their junk advertising dollars.

The automated calls give an option at the end to either 'press 1 to make an appointment,
or press 2 to remove you from our call list', and of course when you press '2' it says
it's an invalid option, likely some kind of loophole in the law..

I've searched the web for the caller-ids, and it seems this happens all over
the country.. some folks were successful at tracking down who actually makes the calls
(often a Florida address), and some interrogated the people who picked up when you
'press 1' finding they're just working for some unknown entity out of their basement.
The caller-id numbers are from all over, sometimes local, sometimes from other states,
and others 'Blocked', but often it's the same message.

And if I ever give money to a police or goodwill charity, for the next three months
I get calls from every police and charity organization asking for money at dinner,
lunch and breakfast. After a few cycles of this, I've simply stopped giving to charities..
screw 'em all.

I don't know how many calls do-not-call is preventing, maybe a lot, maybe a few,
but there's obviously some kind of loopholes..

I miss those calls

[jbeaupre (752124)]

I kind of miss telemarketer calls.

Would you like to subscribe to our newspaper? No, I'm illiterate!

Would you like new windows? No, this house is so run down I'm abandoning it.

Would you like to donate to the children? No, I don't like children.

Would you like to donate to the police fund? Will you let my brother out of jail?

and so on. Come up with a response that is not on their list and it's comedy gold.

Re:

[OrangeTide (124937)]

I never heard this argument before, please elaborate. How is it unconstitutional? And what contract are you referring to?

Re:

[Russ Nelson (33911)]

Oh, well, practically EVERYTHING that the federal government does today hangs off a bizarre interpretation of the Commerce Clause [wikipedia.org]. So, in-state calls are regulated by the federal government because you could just as easily be calling someone else, or because the call could be routed out of state before it comes back in-state.

I expect that he means the contract you signed for telephone service. Except, you didn't sign a contract very likely, so your relationship between the telephone company and you is gov