The FTC's Do Not Call list was launched in June 2003, but every number on the list expires after five years unless it's renewed. This means those who signed up in June of 2003 will need to re-register before June 2008. The call is free by dialing (888) 382-1222. So why not get ahead of the curve on this one, and sign up now while it’s on your mind?
The reason you do not want to wait: telemarketers have 31 days to scrub your number from their call lists if you do not register your phone number. Under the law you should not get unsolicited calls, with the following exceptions: Nonprofit, political, or charitable organizations are exempt. Phone surveys if conducted for information gathering and not selling. Remember that the old rules allow having your name removed from an individual caller's list. Where an established business relationship exists. If you have already done business with a firm—that is, bought a product or service—it can keep you "active" for 18 months. The clock can run from the time of the last payment, not the original purchase transaction. But you can also request to be removed from any such list. Business-to-business calls. Your phone number must be listed as a "residential" line. Business and fax lines are not covered. Cell phones
The following e-mail warning might seem familiar to you:
“Greetings To All of My Friends and Family
“In just four days from today all U.S. cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketing companies and you will begin to receive sales calls. You will be charged for these calls! Even if you do not answer, the telemarketer will end up in your voice mail and you will be charged for all of the minutes the incoming (usually recorded) message takes to complete. You will then also be charged when you call your voice mail to retrieve your messages.
“To prevent this, call 888-382-1222 from your cell phone. This is the national DO NOT CALL list; it takes only a minute to register your cell phone number and it blocks most telemarketers calls for five years.
“In case you have friends other than me, pass this on to them.”
It’s an alarming story that periodically makes the rounds of e-mails, as people forward them to everyone they know. And that would be exactly what you would want to do ... if it were true. But, fortunately or unfortunately, this story is a hoax and the people who forward these e-mails without first checking to make sure they are true are only adding to the confusion.
Here are the facts:
A national directory will be compiled, but cell phone numbers will be included on an opt-in basis only. If a cell phone subscriber does nothing, their cell phone number will not be listed. When the directory is ready, it will be available only as part of the existing 411 directory service, accessed by calling in and asking for a specific number. It will not be published in a book or on the Internet. And it will not be sold to telemarketers.
Cell phone subscribers can list their numbers on the do-not-call list if they choose. There is no deadline to get on the list. You may register up to three telephone numbers at one time on the National Do Not Call Registry Web site.
If you receive e-mail warnings from friends and relatives, check them out first at snopes.com to see if they are true or false before passing them on. If you find that a story is false, notify the person who sent it to you and suggest that he or she resend the e-mail to their mailing list to let people know it is false, and to educate them on how to check rumors on http://www.snopes.com/ before spreading them to others.
References:
(1) “You Make the Call: The FTC’s New Telemarketing Sales Rule,” Federal Trade Commission, December 2003. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/donotcall.shtm
(2) “Q & A: The National Do Not Call Registry,” Federal Trade Commission, August 2005. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt107.shtm
(3) “Celling Your Soul,” http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp
Source: Robert H. Flashman, Ph.D., Extension Specialist for Family Resource Management, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service
