Over 50 million US consumers have registered already with the
Do-Not-Call Registry, saying 'No' to telemarketing. From next
month, telemarketers are required to check the list every three
months to clean their lists for those numbers that have opted-out.
Telemarketers that call a number on the list could be fined up to
$11,000 per call.
It was reported on Tuesday that an Oklahoma federal judge had
ruled that the FTC had no constitutional authority to run the
Registry. Judge Lee West said should have been an "unambiguous
grant of authority" allowing the FTC to create the registry and, in
his opinion, there was not.
There is now. With the Do-Not-Call Registry threatened, and
pressure from 50 million frustrated individuals, Congress acted
quickly.
Reuters reports that the House of Representatives yesterday
voted 412-8 to grant the necessary "unambiguous authority" to the
FTC. The Senate approved it 95-0 and President Bush said shortly
afterwards that he looks forward to signing the legislation calling
unwanted telemarketing calls "intrusive, annoying and all too
common."
But according to Associated Press, a federal judge in Denver
then followed his Oklahoma colleague, ruling that the list violates
free-speech protections.
His argument was that the registry rules do not apply equally to
all kinds of speech, blocking commercial telemarketing calls but
not calls from charities. Judge Edward Nottingham wrote: "The FTC
has chosen to entangle itself too much in the consumer's decision
by manipulating consumer choice.''
Accordingly the list is not yet cleared. Even after the
legislation is signed by Bush, the FTC still needs to win in
court.
