The Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry puts you in charge of commercial telemarketing calls you get at home. The federal government created the National Registry to make it easy for you to stop getting telemarketing sales calls you do not want.
The National Registry does not apply to business telephones. Wireless numbers are eligible to register.
You can register online at http://www.DONOTCALL.GOV if you have an active email address or call 1-888-382-1222, from the telephone or cell phone number you want to register. Registration is free.
Once you register, telemarketers covered by the National Registry will have up to three months from the date you register to stop calling you.
Consumer registrations are valid for five years, or until the consumer asks to be removed from the National Registry or until the number is disconnected. Only telephone numbers are included in the National Registry. All household members who share a telephone number will stop receiving most telemarketing calls after the number is registered.
The FTC amended the Telemarketing Sales Rule [PDF] in January 2003. The legislation gives the Commission general law enforcement tools to combat telemarketing fraud, and it gives consumers added privacy protections and defenses against unscrupulous telemarketers, and it helps consumers tell the difference between fraudulent and legitimate telemarketing.
Will registering for the Do Not Call list stop all telemarketing calls?
Some types of calls are exempt. Political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors are permitted to call you.
Organizations that you have an established business relationship can call you for up to 18 months after your last purchase, payment or delivery, even if your name is on the registry. Companies that you have made application to or an inquiry can call you for three months. However, if you ask a company not to call you, they must comply with your request, regardless of the established business relationship.
Callers soliciting charitable contributions do not have to search the National Registry. However, a for-profit telemarketer or telefunder calling on behalf of a charitable organization must honor your request to put you on their organization's do not call list.
Enforcement
The FTC and the Federal Communications Commission began enforcing the National Do Not Call Registry on October 1, 2003. On that date, sellers and telemarketers were prohibited from calling any consumer whose number was in the registry database prior to September 1, 2003. Violators are subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, as well as injunctive remedies. For those who register after September 1, 2003, sellers and telemarketers are prohibited from calling you beginning three months after your register.
Sellers, telemarketers, and their service providers have been able to access the National Registry through a dedicated website since September 2003. It is a rule violation to make any covered calls beginning October 1, 2003 without having accessed the Registry. Sellers and telemarketers will have to update their call lists. That means updating all numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry from their lists at least every three months.
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