TELEMARKETING FTC prepares to launch do-not-call registry

The government will begin enforcing the do-not-call list in September.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Trade Commission is poised to launch within days a national do-not-call list intended to help people block many telemarketing calls.
The free service, first proposed last year, will begin registering consumers before the end of the month.
The Federal Communications Commission was to vote today on whether the industries whose calls it regulates, including airlines, banks and telephone companies, will be subject to the FTC program.
Consumers will be able to sign up on a Web site by providing the phone number they want protected and an e-mail address so they can receive a confirmation message, the FTC said. The only identifying information kept will be the phone number.
Telephone registration using a toll-free number will begin at the same time in states west of the Mississippi River, including Minnesota and Louisiana, the FTC said. Nationwide registration should be available about 10 days later. Consumers will have to call from the number they want to register.
The Web site and phone number have yet to be announced.
Takes effect in October
The government says consumers who register should see a decrease in telemarketing calls after it begins enforcing the do-not-call list in October.
The FTC expects people to register up to 60 million phone numbers in the first year, said agency spokeswoman Cathy MacFarlane. There are about 166 million residential phone numbers in the United States, she said.
Of the states with do-not-call lists, 13 plan to add their lists of 8.1 million numbers to the national registry, three have legislation pending to allow them to share and 11 will not share the information, MacFarlane said. Consumers on state lists added to the national one do not need to register again.
Though the national list is intended to block most telemarketing calls, there are limits.
A company may call someone on the no-call list if that person has bought, leased or rented from the company within the past 18 months. Telemarketers also can call people if they have inquired about or applied for something from the company during the past three months.
Charities, surveys and calls on behalf of politicians also are exempt.
Consumers on the list can give written permission to get calls from certain companies.
Telemarketer requirements
Beginning in September, telemarketers will have to check the list every three months to determine who does not want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation. Consumers would file complaints by submitting the company's name and phone number to an automated system by phone or online.
People would have to renew their registration every five years.
The telemarketing industry says the registry will devastate their business and have sued the FTC on grounds the program amounts to an unlawful restriction on free speech.