# National Do Not Call List may be illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564 "2003-09-24T16:43:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/1 "2003-09-24T16:43:57Z")
:mad: [What the fuck!?](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=1&u=/ap/20030924/ap_on_bi_ge/do_not_call) I hope the judge gets calls during dinner, during sex, after a long day at work… And a special FUCK YOU to the companies that initiated the lawsuit. The hell what 50 million households think of your companies and what you do. We’re not entitled to privacy and freedom from hassling as long as you make your money. _I wonder what would happen if, instead of hanging up on you when you call, the person answering the phone in households you have disturbed just put down the phone, and carry on about their business. Or if possible, maybe find a TV channel or radio station with something irritating on, such as the Anna Nicole Smith Show or Scarborough Country, and put the phone next to the TV or radio, so that silence won’t cause the call to automatically disconnect…_ ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/2 "2003-09-24T17:01:24Z")
That is horseshit. I invite everyone to do what I have, dump the household phone, get a cell and never answer “Unknown number” calls. I haven’t had a telemarketing call in almost 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/3 "2003-09-24T17:19:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*That is horseshit. I invite everyone to do what I have, dump the household phone, get a cell and never answer “Unknown number” calls. I haven’t had a telemarketing call in almost 2 years. \*\* Doesn’t work if you’re self-employed. I just got an “unknown number” call yesterday; it was an acquaintance of mine calling to offer me work. _You_ may have the kind of life where the only phone calls you ever need to take are from your buddies and family, but not all of us live like that. P.S. - Fuck telemarketers. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/4 "2003-09-24T17:26:27Z")
Not to mention, I believe it is illegal for telemarketers to call your cell phone. No cite for that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/5 "2003-09-24T17:32:01Z")
No fan of telemarketers I. But I’m not sure if the expressions of disgust above are at the general state of affairs, or an expression of a legal opinion different from the judge’s. If the latter, I’d be curious to know what your reasoning is. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/6 "2003-09-24T17:32:21Z")
Well, it would have been nice to regulate telemarketers out of existence. As it appears that this won’t happen, what can we do as inviduals to make telemarketing nonprofitable? Annoying individual telemarketers won’t do it. What we need is some way in which we can waste a great deal of their time without being distracted ourselves. Maybe a recorded ELIZA-like program that we could activate that would scan for certain sounds and keep telemarketers in an endless loop of product explanation? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/7 "2003-09-24T17:35:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > \*\*Not to mention, I believe it is illegal for telemarketers to call your cell phone. No cite for that, though. \*\* I’d like to see a cite. What law would differentiate one from the other? Unless it is because some cell users pay for incoming calls. That I could see. ---
**Author:** ![Flang\_Dang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e4f/32.png) [@Flang\_Dang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flang_Dang)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/8 "2003-09-24T17:46:37Z")
If the essence-of-evil DMA thinks it has a right to call me even though I tell them (via the Do Not Call list) not to, then I should be given the right to capture their connection and force them to pay for 20 minutes of listening to a recorded Robert Tilton sermon. Oh, and I reserve the right to afflict every telemarketer, TM executive, support staff, salesmen and lobbyist with lifetime amoebic dysentery and shingles. (Way better than wishing death upon them). BTW, I’d inflict double on the pathetic morons that take these calls and actually BUY shit from them. You keep the beast alive and deserve to share in the misery. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/9 "2003-09-24T18:05:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*That is horseshit. I invite everyone to do what I have, dump the household phone, get a cell and never answer “Unknown number” calls. I haven’t had a telemarketing call in almost 2 years. \*\* To hijack my own thread, I’ve given this some serious thought, moreso to save on long distance, since most cell plans offer free nationwide long distance. The only thing really holding me back is that I have a dial-up connection for my computer, and to upgrade to cable in my area is kind of expensive. Is this an issue with you? You’re welcome to e-mail me if you don’t feel like working up the hamsters. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/10 "2003-09-24T18:05:32Z")
I’m pretty sure they aren’t allowed to call cell phones either… when I worked for a market research company if anyone ever got a cell phone we had to apologize and put them on the do not call list for the company… ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/11 "2003-09-24T18:36:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flang Dang \* > \*\*If the essence-of-evil DMA thinks it has a right to call me even though I tell them (via the Do Not Call list) not to, then I should be given the right to capture their connection and force them to pay for 20 minutes of listening to a recorded Robert Tilton sermon. > > Oh, and I reserve the right to afflict every telemarketer, TM executive, support staff, salesmen and lobbyist with lifetime amoebic dysentery and shingles. (Way better than wishing death upon them). > > BTW, I’d inflict double on the pathetic morons that take these calls and actually BUY shit from them. You keep the beast alive and deserve to share in the misery. \*\* Suddenly I have to hit the can. Guess what **I’m** a member of? Here’s the announcement via out list-serv: > [@](#): > > This just in from DM News: > > BREAKING NEWS: COURT RULES FOR DMA IN NO-CALL LIST CHALLENGE > A federal judge in Oklahoma City ruled in favor of > the Direct Marketing Association in its challenge to the > Federal Trade Commission’s national no-call list, DM News > learned today. The judge ruled yesterday that the FTC > lacks the authority to create a national no-call list and > that jurisdiction for creating the list fell with the Federal > Communications Commission. > > It is unclear how the ruling affects the Oct. 1 implementation > of the no-call list. The judge did not include an injunction > or order in the ruling regarding the disposition of the no- > call list launch. > > Other telemarketing rules drafted by the FTC, including new > ones governing predictive dialers and pre-acquired account > information, were upheld in the decision, according to court > documents obtained by DM News. > > To read the whole story, go to: > [http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article\_id=25078](http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=25078) ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/12 "2003-09-24T18:40:19Z")
**tdn** , [here](http://www.click2houston.com/technology/2243596/detail.html) is an article I found about telemarketers calling cell phones: > [@](#): > > It’s against the law for telemarketers to call people on their cell phones through an automated dialer. > > “That doesn’t mean they are not allowed to dial by hand,” Larson said. > > Since wireless numbers are not listed, experts say that the consumer was probably the one who gave that number. This does not explain why I get a recorded message in my voice mail from Media Play every month. I can’t stop them because there is no number - the phone doesn’t ring, I just get a mesage in my voice mail that is a recorded advertisement. I did not sign up for my service or buy the phone through them, I can’t even remember the last time I was in their store. Maybe AT&T has a deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![if\_you\_don\_t\_know\_i\_won\_t\_tell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/fbc32d/32.png) [@if\_you\_don\_t\_know\_i\_won\_t\_tell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if_you_don_t_know_i_won_t_tell)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/13 "2003-09-24T18:55:11Z")
They aren’t, because the user of the cell phone pays for the call, against their will for a call they didn’t choose to make. Anyway. \>.\> This is crap! _is seriously considering calling the judge who made the law every five minutes_. It IS THE GOV’TS BUSINESS. What utter and complete bullshit. I’m quite pissed about this (I know it seems overkill; but I was getting up to 20 calls a day). I’m a student. I do not need to be interrupted by the phone every five minutes. And telling them that you’re not interested and that you want off their list doesn’t work. After we got on that list, even though it wasn’t in effect, the calls dropped to less than one a week. Which is ok! I can deal with an occasional one. Yeesh. \ My senators are going to hear from me. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/14 "2003-09-24T18:55:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*Well, it would have been nice to regulate telemarketers out of existence. As it appears that this won’t happen, what can we do as inviduals to make telemarketing nonprofitable? Annoying individual telemarketers won’t do it. What we need is some way in which we can waste a great deal of their time without being distracted ourselves. Maybe a recorded ELIZA-like program that we could activate that would scan for certain sounds and keep telemarketers in an endless loop of product explanation? \*\* I don’t think there’s any way to fight back directly like that. Telemarketing is clearly an extremely inefficient way to market products and services. It only works because they engage in massive operations of underpaid workers who place the calls. They don’t care that the success rate is extremely low, and I doubt they would care even if large numbers of people began trying to subvert them, as long as it works _once in awhile_. It’s the old reasoning of throwing a ton of shit against the wall and hoping that some of it might stick. If we make it harder for them, I’m sure they’d be quite happy to just throw TWO tons of shit against the wall. Bricker: > [@](#): > > But I’m not sure if the expressions of disgust above are at the general state of affairs, or an expression of a legal opinion different from the judge’s. If the latter, I’d be curious to know what your reasoning is. For me, it’s just disgust at this point. The article says it just happened “12 minutes ago”, and it’s pretty short on details. There’s insufficient data at this point to evaluate the judge’s decision. If it’s legally valid, it’s a technicality of sorts: the reasoning seems to be that the DNC list is the province of the FCC rather than the FTC. Somehow I doubt that the average American gives a rat’s ass _which_ Federal commission keeps the database; they just want these fucking bastards to stop calling all the time. ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/15 "2003-09-24T19:03:09Z")
Well, not to hijack this back to the original subject, but it appears that the judge said that the DNC list **is** legal, but only if enacted by the FCC. In this case, it’s the FTC that is trying to operate the list. And, on preview, I see that that ratbastard **blowero** has beaten me once again. **blowero** is the bane of my existence. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/16 "2003-09-24T19:11:53Z")
I know that “Operation: Hang Up Quickly” has now ended at the Fly houshold. It’s now “Operation: Fly Into an Extended, Profanity Laced Rant” when I get a telemarketer. They want to take the gloves off? The gloves are off. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/17 "2003-09-24T19:16:26Z")
[Here](http://www.the-dma.org/aboutdma/contactthedma.shtml) is the contact information for the DMA. Go nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/18 "2003-09-24T19:17:37Z")
And that will accomplish nothing at all. Knock yourself out. Face it, folks. The **only** effective remedy against telemarketers is to not buy and make everyone not buy. The minute it’s not profitable it’ll stop. But not a minute before. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/19 "2003-09-24T19:19:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carrot \* > Well, not to hijack this back to the original subject, but it appears that the judge said that the DNC list **is** legal, but only if enacted by the FCC. In this case, it’s the FTC that is trying to operate the list. Actually, now that I think about it, if the FCC was supposed to enact the list, WHY THE HELL DIDN’T THEY? > [@](#): > > And, on preview, I see that that ratbastard **blowero** has beaten me once again. **blowero** is the bane of my existence. [James T. Kirk]KAAAAAAHN!!![/James T. Kirk] ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564/20 "2003-09-24T19:20:29Z")
Is there a way that the telemarketers can tell whether a phone is a landline or a cell phone? If not, wouldn’t one way to at least prevent repeat callers from the same telespammer be to tell them the phone number they called you on is a cell phone number EVEN IF it is actually a landline.? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-do-not-call-list-may-be-illegal/203564.md?page=2)