Sunday, October 7, 2007

DO NOT CALL

I got an email yesterday reminding me to re-register my telephone number online for the Federal Trade Commission’s DO NOT CALL list to keep telemarketers from bothering me – except for “political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors” and “companies with which you have an existing business relationship”.

I heard on the radio the other day that the reason why political organizations are exempt is because of the “first amendment” right of free speech. Bullpucky! The reason political organizations are exempt is because politicians wrote the law that created the Do Not Call list and they did not want to be cut off from a potential source of campaign funds.
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Your phone number will remain on the registry for five years from the date you register. So if you registered when the list first began you will probably need to re-register. You can check your phone number’s expiration date by clicking on the Verify a Registration button on the website. You will receive an email with the verification information.
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As an additional point of information, the website states the following:
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“Did you get an email claiming that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls because of a new cell phone number database? Those claims are not true. In fact, federal law prohibits telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phones. You may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, but there is generally no reason to do so. For more information, see the FTC's press release
"The Truth about Cell Phones and the Do Not Call Registry".”

I certainly do not have to register my cell phone – since I do not have one. And as for my “regular” phone – when it is turned on (usually only during the tax filing season) I never answer the phone without first screening the call via my answering machine.

TTFN

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