![]() ![]() In 2002, the FCC issued a notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting comment on, among other things, whether it should reconsider a national do not call list. 14 As states were blazing the trail in the implementation of such laws, the federal government soon attempted to pave it. 13īy the end of 2002, 27 states had established some form of a Do Not Call list. 12 Unlike the Indiana law, the Missouri law provides criminal penalties for some telemarketing violations. Indiana’s law imposes strict liability on the telephone solicitor, while Missouri’s statute specifies civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a knowing violation of the No-Call Law. For the first violation of the Telephone Privacy Law, a telemarketer may face a penalty of up to $10,000, and the penalty rises to a maximum of $25,000 for each subsequent violation. One noticeable difference is that the Indiana law imposes much harsher civil penalties. 11 Indiana’s version of Do Not Call is similar to that of Missouri’s, with a few significant differences. Indiana’s Telephone Solicitation of Consumers Act, popularly known as the Telephone Privacy Law, went into effect on Jan. In 2000, Missouri passed its No-Call Law requiring its attorney general “to compile a list of telephone numbers of residential subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations. In 1989, Oregon and Alaska implemented “black dot” laws requiring the telephone company to note a consumer’s telemarketing preference by literally placing a black dot next to the person’s name in the local telephone directory. 8 Other early methods of opting out of telemarketing calls seem quaint today. Florida implemented the first state Do Not Call registry in 1987. Meanwhile, states were creating their own solutions to unwanted telemarketing calls. ” 6 The FTC included similar company-specific Do Not Call provisions in its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) published in 1995. In its first set of regulations following the passage of the TCPA, the FCC opted not to create a national list and, instead, mandated that “telephone solicitors maintain company-specific lists of residential subscribers who request not to receive further solicitations. 4Īmong other provisions, the TCPA authorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate regulations which “may require the establishment and operation of a single national database to compile a list of telephone numbers of residential subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations.” 5 In 1991, finding that “any consumers are outraged over the proliferation of intrusive, nuisance calls to their homes from telemarketers” Congress amended the Communications Act of 1934 by adding the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Well into the second decade of the Do Not Call era, it is a good time to take a look back at where Do Not Call began, where Do Not Call is now, and why Do Not Call does not seem to be stopping unwanted calls anymore. More than 60 federal, state, and private stakeholders participated in the event, which grows each year as mass-dialing and texting become more prevalent. ![]() In April 2016, Missouri and Indiana co-hosted the third annual No-Call Law Enforcement Summit to keep informed of the latest cases and regulations affecting Do Not Call issues and to provide training in investigation and litigation techniques. Each month, state attorney general representatives, along with other state, federal, and Canadian agencies hold a conference call to discuss Do Not Call enforcement lawsuits, investigations, and the latest scams. Even if many of these calls were debt collection, scams, and other non-telemarketing calls, 2.4 billion is a lot of unwelcome calls.ĭo Not Call is the number one topic on many of our constituents’ minds. 3 According to ’s Robocall Index, over 2.4 billion, yes billion, robocalls occurred in the month of June 2016 alone. Wrong! The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 3.5 million complaints about unwanted calls in fiscal year 2015. With such widespread opposition to telemarketing calls, telemarketers should have gone the way of the dinosaurs by now, right? 2 Every number on a Do Not Call list represents at least one consumer who does not wish to receive telemarketing calls. Sweeney, Section Chief, Telephone Privacy Section, Consumer Protection Division & Justin Shuhmacher, Law Clerk, Consumer Protection Division, Indiana Attorney General’s OfficeĪs of September 2015, there were 222 million numbers on the National Do Not Call registry 1 and nearly 2.5 million numbers on the Indiana Do Not Call list. ![]()
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