41 Million Sign Up for National Do-Not-Call List

ejbst25 writes "The first wave of the do not call registry sign up ends 8/31. There is plenty of news coverage but they say there is already over 41 million numbers registered."

Hrmph. doesn't work for Canada it seems

[zptdooda]

I got an error on my area code when I tried to register.

This [the-cma.org] seems to be a Canadian do not call registry, but it's private sector. So it wouldn't be as effective and may be open to abuse.

Does anyone know if there's a Canadian federal goverment equivalent service?

good for 5 years

[LinuxHam]

I even signed up my cellphone just in case someone decides to repeal the law protecting our cellphones from unwanted solicitation calls. If you register prior to the deadline, your numbers are blocked as of October 1. If you register after the deadline, your phone will be blocked 3 months later.

This would be great if it worked

[CrazyTalk]

I'm on the National AND state (PA) do not call lists - got on both the first day possible. I'm still getting unwanted phone soliciations, mainly from automated machines that I cannot argue with. I admit that the call volume has dropped significantly, but its definately not a foolproof system.

Bit of info....

[Akasha]

While the Do-Not-Call list does protect you from unsolicited calls from private groups, it does not protect you from non-profit groups (such as charities).

While I'm glad I some protection from telemarketers I know I am still going to get calls from the police asking for donations and silently threatening to ticket me if I don't donate.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[inimicus]

From the page [donotcall.gov]:

"You can register your home and mobile phone numbers for free."

Almost makes me wish I still had my old cell-phone account with Caller Pays...

Re:Cell Phone Number

[LinuxHam]

It is illegal right now, but my Mom gets telemarketing calls on hers almost daily. Yay AT&T.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[Radojevic]

The 'Do Not Call List' let you enter up to 3 phone numbers, including cell phone numbers. g

Well..

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course it hasn't worked. It doesn't come into effect until October 1st!

Re:Bit of info....

[bryanthompson]

From the Do Not Call FAQ [donotcall.gov]:

Q: If I register my number on the National Do Not Call Registry, will it stop all telemarketing calls?

A: No. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most, but not all, telemarketing calls. You may still receive calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship.

I think the allowed types of organizations are a lot more tolerable than someone trying to sell me into a book club.

Re:Bit of info....

[MImeKillEr]

While the Do-Not-Call list does protect you from unsolicited calls from private groups, it does not protect you from non-profit groups (such as charities).

True, but I *think* they still have to remove you from their calling list if you request it. Failure to do so is punishable by a $500 fine.

Fortunately, most charities get the picture when you tell them you're not interested. I've not had to tell a charity more than once.

States are adding en-mass

[peterdaly]

I know New York State added their entire existing state wide do not call list into the national one.

If many states are doing that it is not suprising the number is that high.

-Pete

Re:Cell Phone Number

[afidel]

Right now any legal telemarketing company that is not incompetant will run as one of their first checks a national cellphone block check and remove all numbers that are from the cellphone number blocks. The exceptions would be new numbers that have not yet been registered. With telephone number portability this will become possibly less reliable because the FCC is thinking of making numbers portable between cellphone and landline services. If that comes to pass then telemarketers will be able to legitimatly state that they can not reliably block cellphones, at that time you may need to add your cell number to the national DNC list.

It's not ending; it's just updated quarterly

[Animats]

It's "business-friendly" - the database only gets updated every quarter. If you sign up next week, you get into the next quarterly update.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[Gleef]

gsparrow asks:

Can telemarketers call your cell phone number?
Of course they can. However, barring certain exceptions [donotcall.gov], it is illegal for them to do so if your name is on the national do-not-call list. Alternately, it is illegal for any telemarketer to call you if you have requested to be added to their own "do-not-call" list. Note: telling them "don't call me" or "take me off your list" might not be sufficient, you must ask to be added to their "do-not-call list".

Do you need to put your cell number on the do not call list
You don't need to put any number on the list, but it can be useful if you want the protection that the list offers. It could be especially useful for a cell phone, given the pricing structure of most cellular plans.

or is it already protected since you pay on a time basis?
My understanding is, the fact that you pay for time spent on incoming calls doesn't protect you in any way from any call. If anything, it makes you more vulnerable, and makes registering the number on the do-not-call more useful.

Help the elderly!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sign up your parents/grandparents/miscellaneous old people that you know. They probably don't know about the list, and they're easy prey for telemarketers.

Re:3 are mine

[-Surak-]

You can sign up any time, but telespammers are only required to check the master list once every three months. So if you wait until after the 31st, they won't need to stop calling your number until Feb 1st (instead of Oct 1st). They explain it on the front page of the donotcall.gov site.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[gfxguy]

Sure there is - the area code and exchange will tell them wether or not it's a mobile phone. Some telemarketers are dilligent enough to actually check.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[princewally]

They can check, but the don't have to. They do, however, need to stop calling immediately if you tell them it's a cell phone. Unless you have an account with them and used that number to sign up for the account.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[princewally]

or is it already protected since you pay on a time basis?

My understanding is, the fact that you pay for time spent on incoming calls doesn't protect you in any way from any call. If anything, it makes you more vulnerable, and makes registering the number on the do-not-call more useful.

It does protect you from some calls. Third-party collection agencies aren't allowed to call cell phones or pay-per-page pagers without permission. They don't have to check to see if it's a cell phone, though.

Re:Out of a total 110 million "households"

[Peter Simpson]

Like I said, it's probably off, but not by more than a factor of 3.

BTW, telemarketing to cell phones is federally prohibited now. I have never gotten a telemarketing call to my cell, and I believe there is a bit in the number assignment record that defines pay/hotel/business/cell/residence/etc, so that list is apparently already being checked.

But yes, I signed up my cell, too, simply because the web site says you can. Nevertheless, 40+ million phone numbers is enough to make a very clear point!

Re:Bit of info....

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the allowed types of organizations are a lot more tolerable than someone trying to sell me into a book club.

No. The worst calls I get are from the Policemen's & Firemen's funds.

Re:Bit of info....

[mikeboone]

Beware of those police "charities." There might be some legit ones out there, but I've gotten calls from several who use professional fund-raising firms to call you and then the firm keeps 80% or more of the donation. And often the donation isn't even tax deductible.

Re:Cell Phone Number

[Dharzhak]

My understanding is, the fact that you pay for time spent on incoming calls doesn't protect you in any way from any call.

Incorrect. From the Telephone Consumer Protection Act:

a.No person may
1.Initiate any telephone call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice,
iii.To any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call;

So, while cell phones are not protected from *all* calls, they are protected from those that use "an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice," which is a significant percentage since most telemarketing companies use an automatic dialer.

Yeah.

[dolson]

I know you hate telemarketing calls, and I hate them too, but I work there to pay my bills (hopefully temporarily), and some people do actually like telemarketers (doesn't make sense to me, but it's true).

Please, don't be rude about it... If you don't want to be called, you can do something about it without being an ass.

Here's what you do if someone calls you:

[telemarketer] Hi this is Dana calling on behalf of SBC...
[you] Hi Dana, I'm not really interested in any telemarketing calls... Can you tell me who it is that employs you?
[telemarketer] Yes, I work for TeleSpectrum.
[you] Okay Dana, can you put me on TeleSpectum's Do Not Call list, AND send me your DNC policy in the mail?
[telemarketer] Okay, I will do that.

That's as simple as it is, and you'll get a copy of the TeleSpectrum DNC policy, which states that if we violate your request, you can sue for X amount of dollars. So, the next time we call you, if it happens, it would look like this:

[telemarketer] Hi this is Jim calling on behalf of SBC...
[you] Hi Jim, I'm not really interested in any telemarketing calls... Can you tell me who it is that employs you?
[telemarketer] Yes, I work for TeleSpectrum.
[you] Okay Jim. I am supposed to be on TeleSpectum's Do Not Call list. Can I please speak with your supervisor?
[telemarketer] Okay, please hold the line.

Alternately, you could sign up online on as many call centers as you can ( example: http://telespectrum.com/ct_dnc_request.asp ) which would achieve the same basic effect.

So why isn't she suing?

[jridley]

I think you can immediately sue any company that calls a cell phone number. Free money.

Re:This would be great if it worked

[FlyGirl]

I sure hope that the national list has a more effective mechanism for reporting offenders.

They, at least, include a phone number.

From http://www.donotcall.gov/FAQ/FAQConsumers.aspx [donotcall.gov]

For more information, see the privacy policy. You may also call 1-888-382-1222 to submit a complaint; for TTY, call 1-866-290-4236

Re:Cell Phone Number

[DiveX]

[i]Of course they can. However, barring certain exceptions [donotcall.gov], it is illegal for them to do so if your name is on the national do-not-call list. [/i]

This is absolutely incorrect. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (yes, over a decade ago) has made calls to numbers where the person must pay for the call (i.e. cell phones) illegal. There are few exceptions (such as where you specifically gave the organization calling your number as the point of contact. However if your organization were to sell the number, anyone else calling would be in violation.)

[i]Alternately, it is illegal for any telemarketer to call you if you have requested to be added to their own "do-not-call" list. Note: telling them "don't call me" or "take me off your list" might not be sufficient, you must ask to be added to their "do-not-call list". [/i]

Finally, a few people understand this. This is extremely important. Also say specifically "Add me to your do-not-call list" and "Send me a copy of your policy regarding the maintence of your do-not-call list". You should do this without exception.

[i]My understanding is, the fact that you pay for time spent on incoming calls doesn't protect you in any way from any call. [/i]

Your understandiong is, unfortunately, incorrect. The whole idea behind the pay-per-call and junk fax provisions were to prevent people from having to pay for the advertising of another. Junk faxes have been illegal for over a decade. There is NO established business relationship that would allow a junk fax. If you do business with a company and they send you a weekly ad without your prior EXPRESS permission, then they are in as much violation of the law as the random loan or vacation fax that you get.

[i]If anything, it makes you more vulnerable, and makes registering the number on the do-not-call more useful. [/i]

It makes it more useful for the government, but not really for you. The new rules do not provide a private right of action if you get called when you are on the list. You only have a private right of action if they make two calls in violation of the law withing a 12 month period, though it hasn't been decided if a firs call is a violation that would count. Time and additional rulings will tell.

Re:This is a horrible idea

[jridley]

You're not doing it right then.
When a telemarketer calls, you don't say "please put me on your do-not-call list."

You say "Please put me on the do-not-call list for EVERY company that your firm represents."

I started doing this a few years ago, and within 6 months, NO TM calls, except for piddly little local places like one-man heating duct cleaning places just going through the phone book at night, and that's like 3 a year.

Also, the DMA's "no junk mail" list works. I sent mine in, and I haven't seen a credit card application or anything else like it for a couple of years.

But I still like this, and signed up for it the first day. If there were 100 ways to tell TMs to frag off, I'd do them all.