Jensae1

This is seriously just ruining my day. I was SO looking forward to having this go through. I get so many calls a day from telemarketers that I just dont answer my phone anymore - checking for messages afterwards. But having it ring ALL the time is still really annoying. I just turn off the ringer sometimes.

I really love our court system, I tell ya. They now have Free Speech rights... to harass me! He who has the gold...

The other side of this coin - the telemarketers wouldn't be such a problem if they werent making money this way. WHO are the dumbasses in this country that are BUYING shit from these guys that call you unsolicited - making them profitable?? Jesus.

mirdorr

Relax. It was turned down on sort of a technicality, and it will be appealed. Congress has made it clear that they'll pursue this idea. And I think it will still go into effect on October 1st pending judicial review.

Jensae1

Read the article. The technicality they got it overturned on a couple of days ago is being addressed by congress really quickly (... this is the US congress moving quickly? whoa).

This NEW hold on the list is based on free speech grounds - congress has no say in it now, it has to be decided by the judicial system, which is screwy to say the least.

Kanyli

How does sales and personal contact violate freedom of speech? Especially if you've been told not to contact me? You'd think telemarketers would get the hint. Try to loop that under 'freedom of speech' basically undermines the entire spirit of that phrase.

Yikes! Don't bank on that! :b


-Kanyli

Jensae1

Oh, this interview is great.

HEMMER: Americans put more than 50 million phone numbers on the don't-call registry.

Can they be wrong?

WIENTZEN: Well, we don't think they're wrong. If they don't want to receive calls, we don't want to call them. About 30 million of those folks were already on a list, either a state list or a list that we've maintained for 18 years. So it's not new for a lot of them.

HEMMER: What is wrong, then, with what the FTC has done?

WIENTZEN: Well, Bill, what we said in our -- in our court case, and the judge agreed with us, was that the FTC simply didn't have the authority to do this. And he agreed with us. We think that people who don't want to get calls should indeed have the right to express that, and we shouldn't call them.

HEMMER: Now there is a major effort right now to get this thing reversed, quite possibly by the 1st of October. If you listen to members of Congress, we'll hear from some of them right now, they are going to put out a full-court press right now to make sure this judge is overturned.

Listen to the talk now in D.C. on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BILLY TAUZIN, R-LOUISIANA: This is something that Americans -- 50 million Americans -- have said they absolutely want the advantage of. And we are determined, bound and determined, before we leave this session of Congress, to make sure they have the advantage of a do-not-call list.

REP. JOHN DINGELL, D- MICHIGAN: We will try and have this matter dealt with by the end of the time that it -- that it is supposed to go into place, which is October 1, next Wednesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: You fear that it's just a question of time before you're reversed again?

WIENTZEN: Well, I think there's going to be a do-not-call list. But this is a great example of the sort of political sound bite that makes this attractive. It's not 50 million people on the list, it's 50 million phone numbers. That probably...

HEMMER: That could represent families, too, on one, which actually increased that number to 50 million.

WIENTZEN: Well, indeed, but we know it has a lot of cell phones. It has a lot of people who have been on the list, our list, for as long as 18 years. This is a great political game that we're seeing here. Congress, I think, acted a little bit too quickly, and perhaps they are going to rectify that.

HEMMER: So your position is that you think the government should not have authority in saying who is on your list and who is not, is that correct?

WIENTZEN: We don't think the government should have a role in regulating the kind of advertising activity that goes on.

HEMMER: OK, then if that's the case, what kind of list do you favor, then?

WIENTZEN: We think a list that expresses people's desire not to be called is appropriate. As I say, we've had it for 18 years. We think it's probably a better thing not done by the government. You know government might want to regulate how you operate your show a lot more strictly.

HEMMER: Well, let's hope not.

WIENTZEN: And I doubt that you'd like that either.

HEMMER: A member of Congress also said yesterday, said this is as popular as a skunk at a church picnic.

WIENTZEN: Well, it's a great political issue. We understand that. But the serious aspect here is that people who don't want to get called are probably not going to buy and we don't want to call them, either.

HEMMER: Do you think it's just political or do you think there's a question of politeness involved in this as well? If people don't want their phone ringing, why can they not have the FTC step in and say you know what, we're going to give you this option?

WIENTZEN: Well, again, Bill, it's we don't oppose the concept of people expressing their desire not to be called. We've been doing just that and respecting that for 18 years. Our point here is that the FTC did not have the authority to do this. The federal court agreed. There are some other technical issues that suggest this could be done a lot better. But politically, this was a very attractive thing, and I'm afraid the FTC rushed it a little bit too quickly.

WHAT? Bullshit flag, flagrant foul, 15 yards.

Nydia Ywalmoriel

Night before last, the night of the first judge's injunction blocking the 'do-not-call list', I got home from a long day at work, lay down for a few moments to catch a nap before doing some grading, and the phone rang. The person tried to sound casual, like he knew me. 'Hey, is this Deborah? Etc... I was groggy and asked who it was and then he started in on his spiel: 'Hi, this is XXX from MCI...'. I was so incensed that I screamed at him to go to hell, and hung up the phone.

Last night, while I was teaching a night lab, they called again. Faervas answered the phone, and the girl did the same thing. Tried to pretend that she was a friend of mine, and then started in on the script. Faervas told her: Didn't she tell you guys to go to hell yesterday? Then why the fuck are you calling? When I got home, he told me about it, and I bet him 10.00 that they call back tonight... .

I'll be really, really steamed if the 'golden rule' wins out in this case. I hope that some measure is enacted to allow us to deal with the avalanche of spam that is making email useless as well...

Regards,
Nydia Ywalmoriel
Autonomous Collective

mirdorr

Don't forget to use the words "take me off your list."

Palimax Sceleris

Be much more careful about what you say. Be specific about what list.

zoritsa

We have been pretty lucky so far with getting phone calls.The phone company screwed up and listed our computer line as our main phone line,so when we are not connected(which is rare),we know it's telemarketers and just don't answer.

Willgatus Airslasher

Telemarketers should all be herded together and locked in special prisons. The prisons should then broadcast nonstop offers for "new and exciting deals on long-distance service brought to you by MCI/PacBell/Sprint/OtherFucktards." Ear plugs will be a commodity reserved for the guards...

I'd wager five bucks that they would all kill themselves or at least pierce their eardrums after a month.