# So, Minnesota has enacted an "Anti-Telemarketing Do Not Call List" Hooray! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355 "2002-11-05T13:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/1 "2002-11-05T13:16:15Z")
Wow, what a great idea. Just register your phone number, either on line or by 800 call and NO MORE TELEMARKETING CALLS!!! Read all about it! [Call me no more!](http://www.commerce.state.mn.us/DNCWARN.htm) Oh, but wait a minute. Read the fine print, there are some exceptions here: \*The Do Not Call law exempts certain businesses and organizations. This means that the following types of organizations can still call you. \* Non-profit organizations Political organizations Businesses that have a prior relationship with you Businesses that do not intend to complete a sale over the phone, but rather complete the transaction in a face-to-face setting at a later date. Excuse me? Wouldn’t it have been easier to have listed the one company left in Minnesota that CAN’T call me anymore? I especially love how the friggin politicians have exempted themselves from their own laws again. Oh, well, in this “feel good” age I guess I have to say “thanks for the effort. I know you meant well” :wally ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/2 "2002-11-05T14:11:56Z")
Well, I’d be thankful at least to get all the vinyl siding and ThermoPane[sup]R[/sup] window installers off my back… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/3 "2002-11-05T14:16:25Z")
To be fair, those are all the organizations that don’t have to comply with your request to bug off if you tell each of them individually, either. At least this way, you can get most of them to go away with only one phone call. ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/4 "2002-11-05T14:31:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, I’d be thankful at least to get all the vinyl siding and ThermoPaneR window installers off my back… Look again. Doesn’t that fall under the “businesses that do not intend to complete the sale over the phone, but rather complete the transaction in a face-to-face setting at a later date” ? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/5 "2002-11-05T15:21:23Z")
hmmmmmm… from the site: > [@](#): > > \*\*5. Do not expect immediate results. > After the first Do Not Call list is sold to telemarketers on January 1, the law allows telemarketers 30 days to remove your phone number from their calling lists. > > Telemarketers will then have to purchase a new, updated Do Not Call list every three months, so depending when you register, it may take up to 90 days for some telemarketers to receive the list containing your phone number. > > 1. Do not expect all telemarketing calls to stop. > The Do Not Call law exempts certain businesses and organizations. This means that the following types of organizations can still call you. > > Non-profit organizations > Political organizations > Businesses that have a prior relationship with you > Businesses that do not intend to complete a sale over the phone, but rather complete the transaction in a face-to-face setting at a later date. \*\*hmmmm… So, if the firm is an outsource for clients and practices several forms of telemarketing (eg. it sells magazine subscriptions **and** operates automated machines with political messages), the Department of Commerce has just sold them a long list of up to date phone numbers that can legally be bombarded with political ads. Maybe I’m to cynical, but… hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/6 "2002-11-05T16:37:17Z")
I called immediately yesterday morning to get on the list but I don’t expect to get much relief. One good thing about the new law is that telemarketers can no longer disable caller id’s. So you’ll know who they are when they do get through ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/7 "2002-11-05T18:35:47Z")
In the spirit of the OP, let me now present one of the most USELESS statewide do-not-call registries ever: [http://www.psc.state.al.us/\_nocall/No-Call%20Web%20info1.htm](http://www.psc.state.al.us/_nocall/No-Call%20Web%20info1.htm) There are 25 specific exemptions. These cover just about anything you can fathom. So, yes, in effect, if you sign up for the “do-not-call” registry, you are actually providing the telemarketers with a nice, valid number for them to call. Lovely. –jack ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-minnesota-has-enacted-an-anti-telemarketing-do-not-call-list-hooray/135355/8 "2002-11-06T14:34:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beeblebrox \* > \*\*hmmmmmm… > … the Department of Commerce has just sold them a long list of up to date phone numbers that can legally be bombarded with political ads… \*\* well, it’s a list of up-to-date phone numbers of _guaranteed_ hard sells… you just KNOW that anybody on that list is going to be waiting to jump all over anybody who calls…