Do Not Call Listings to Expire in 2008 247
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? (Score:5, Informative)
BTW, register your number here https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx [donotcall.gov]
Re:Does the DNC list even mean anything? (Score:5, Informative)
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? (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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Even if the prosecution fails because only the Attorney General is allowed to file, it might shame the government into taking the action that it was supposed to in the first place. (and make sure that the phone company saves the logs of your calls).
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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
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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
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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? (Score:5, Funny)
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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.
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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..
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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
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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
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Phishers? (Score:2)
My landlines ditto lately - especially on/near the Labor Day holiday. Two of the callers I remember claimed to be Sears and a car dealership I'd never heard of.
I've been assuming these calls were not actually from the companies claimed, but instead either phishing scams or crooks looking for unoccupied houses to rob.
Not that tricky (Score:5, Funny)
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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.
22 minutes (Score:2)
Here's hoping the
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I would like it if the number just stayed on till I removed it ( fat chance ).
Re:Not that tricky (Score:5, Funny)
Just out of curiosity, have you tried doing all 3 of those at the same time?
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He didn't say how he gets dinner, sex and sleep. It's entirely possible that his way of getting those is: ...
* dinner: Pizza eaten in front of the computer at some random time after 4pm.
* sex: One-handed surfing.
* sleep: When he dreams of the great new stuff he'll write soon
Re:Not that tricky (Score:4, Funny)
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.
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Costanza tried it. Didn't work out so well. Better than the crib notes, though.
2 out of 3 aint bad (is it?) (Score:2)
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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.
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Re:Not that tricky (Score:4, Funny)
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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
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The week before it was to go into effect, I got calls nonstop. I worked from home at the time so I got them all day and night. MCI was the worst, I got 4 calls in 24 hours. I even told them to put me on their do-not-call list, but they said it would take a week for that to work. Go figure. I got pretty mad on the last
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EPA did it numerous times, OSHA does it (haven't been to a single construction site wher
Simple (Score:5, Funny)
Let it expire ... (Score:4, Funny)
people move, numbers change (Score:5, Insightful)
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
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? (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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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 (Score:5, Insightful)
-Peter
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(In this thread, i mean, not in meatspace.)
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I was just saying that the telco could sign me up if I requested to be signed up on the list.
What should be opt-in? the do not call list? or should you opt in to get calls?
regardless of which kind of list it is, it should be done through the telcos because they can remove the number from the list when it is reassigned.
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Which is why getting calls from telemarketers should be opt-in. It should be assumed that people don't want to get calls, unless they go out of their way to get them.
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Shouldn't have to deal with telemarketers at all (Score:2)
The shit telemarketers sell is crap, they use high pressure tactics that are rude, they ignore requests to take you off their do not call list, and they don't care that they bother you at odd times.
There is nothing redeeming about their antics and the reason why this is a law now is because, of all
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*Shrug*, the fucking assholes like Justice Just for Girls [lazylightning.org] clothing store just call you and call you and couldn't give a fuck less if you're on the DNC list (among others that use pre-recorded messages that end up on your answering machine even if you aren't home/don't answer). When you call to complain they just tell you that someone else put your number on their list. My argument is that if I'
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Sorry buddy, but if this were really true then telemarketing would be dead and you would not be receiving calls. People only piss in the wind once. The reality is that there ARE a lot of people that not only accept the telemarketing calls, but they purchase items and fall for the sales tactics, especially the elderly.
Your post is analogous to saying that SPAM is a dead business
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Of course these same clueless managers probably _do_ buy from spam.
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https://www.donotcall.gov/confirm/Conf.aspx [donotcall.gov]
We registered the number on 10/4/2004 and it says it's good until 6/13/2012.
Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
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Even if I don't keep the number, I'm betting there is a 99.99% chance the next guy who gets the number doesn't want to be bothered with telemarketing calls either.
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Irony continued... (Score:5, Funny)
How many? (Score:2, Interesting)
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? (Score:5, Insightful)
Um...so what would the problem be with that?
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>>Um...so what would the problem be with that?
>If I remember correctly the system doesn't even (appear) to confirm that the phone number is yours. >Some industrious fellow could just do all Americans a favor and purchase a phone list of those >active numbers not registered and write a script to register the numbers.
Still not seeing a problem with this
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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.
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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.)
It would make so
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I've had mine for nearly 20 years!
RTFA ... I know, I know, it's slashdot ... (Score:2)
Doyle, however, points out that the list is purged each month of numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned to new customers. He called the FTC's position on the need for an expiration date "completely bogus."
Ergo, flushing the list == telemarketing lobby paying for it.
- Roach
A hassle? (Score:2)
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 (Score:5, Interesting)
Knowing my luck, however, I will get both..
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Can't They Send a Reminder? (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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NYS (Score:2)
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One big advantage here is that they make it easy to file complaints right off the do-not-call-list webpage.
My experience (Score:2)
Oh no, wait, I'M TOTALLY WRONG. That was for the "quit sending me pre-approved loan offers" thing. However, that did cut down my junk mail greatly--I used to get an average of more than one offer per
So Just Re-Enroll??? (Score:2)
If people keep making mountains out of mole hills it just continues to divert attention from more important issues like , oh, the subversion of our democracy, net neutrality, patenet reform, health care...
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Doyle, however, points out that the list is purged each month of numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned to new customers. He called the FTC's position on the need for an expiration date "completely bogus."
So
I asked that telemarketers not call me. I shouldn't ha
Reminder (Score:4, Interesting)
Simple Fix (Score:4, Insightful)
This 5 year bit sounds like somthing to keep lobbyists from crying.
Why cron was invented (Score:5, Informative)
You could wrap the wget in an if-block to see if the year is divisible by 5, but I'm lazy.
Reid
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If you want to stay off telemarketer phone lists (Score:3, Informative)
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.
Re:If you want to stay off telemarketer phone list (Score:2)
Somehow I fail to see how having an unpublished number stops auto-dialers from hitting your number in sequence. Or from someone you deal with legitimately from selling your number to someone else (Don't ever give out your actual phone number for those grocery store discount cards, for example).
I've been on the DNC list since its inception (and put down 555-1212 for things like the aforementioned grocery store cards). THAT works. We receive *zero* telemarketing calls. The only ones we do get are the stupid
Re:If you want to stay off telemarketer phone list (Score:2)
There is nothing magic about an unpublished number. It's simply a number that the phone company has agreed not to reveal details about. But not all telemarketers get their phone numbers from 'published' sources such as phone company records as your own examples clearly indicate. An unpublished number has jus
I agree with the parent (Score:2)
Now that doesn't stop the stupid phone company calling and trying to upsell THEIR service every so often. But then the DNC won't stop that either.
And this also stops some places like banks who are looking f
Isn't it convenient... (Score:2)
That the Do Not Call list provides telemarketers with a list of names and numbers to call, for those of us who might forget to re-register. Isn't it convenient that the Federal Government has actually assisted telemarketers by providing them with a list of confirmed names and numbers, which they will be legally allowed to call after the expiration date?
A lot of us signed up for the Do Not Call list hoping that we wouldn't receive these kinds of calls. Instead, we were betrayed by both the Feds and the
As a former telemarketer (Score:3, Interesting)
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 (Score:5, Interesting)
"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?
Spam Assassin for PBX (Score:2, Interesting)
Kind of like Spam Assassin does for email -- it's like the message was never sent.
I see an IPO, a little black box that gets a list of telemarketers numbers from the net and blocks them all!
Any takers?
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"White Knight" Hackers (Score:2, Interesting)
Then again, that might be the perfect excuse for the telemarketing industry to call for a lengthy and expensive overhaul of the system and win
Let's make lots of money! (Score:2)
Do Not Call -- Ha.. (Score:3, Interesting)
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 (Score:4, Funny)
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.
Already renewed (Score:2, Informative)
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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
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During World War II, the U.S. imposed rationing on many goods, i.e. meat, tires, aluminum foil, and others, and passed related anti-hoarding laws. Many people started gardening to supplement their diet, and these new gardens were encouraged by the government and called Victory Gardens. However, the government also clai
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Just like you have the right to kick a traveling salesman off your property. You should have the right to kick a telemarketer off of your phone.
The Do Not Call list is like posting a sign that says 'No Solicitors' on your door. If one does come and knock on your door then you have every right to upset and if they refuse to leave you have every right to call the police to kick them off your property and/or give them a restraining order. The thing is that the list pre-emptively does
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It's much more efficient for them to just buy the list of unlisted numbers from your phone company. And if you think that the phone companies don't do that, you're living in a fantasy world.
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Also telemarketers have the freedom to speak their message, just not on my telephone. If all telemarketing calls were banned then they can pick a different medium. They have no physical disability that prevents
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Personally, I want to talk to the people my kids are getting phone calls from.