FTC to offer new limits on telemarketers

[Ornery]

Quick question. I'd have a problem with telemarketers calling before or after hours. Who should be responsible for regulating that, if anyone?

 

[Sir Fredrick]

<< Hot damn, my respect for you just bumped up a few more notches, gopunk

just call me mr. popular

Yes, that can be true and is a damn good point (I was waiting for someone to bring up the interstate commerce clause of Article 1 section 8), but what about broadcasts so weak thay cannot cross state lines?

that's a good question, i think i asked about it a few months ago here, but i'm not sure if anybody came up with an answer. >>



I worked at a college radio station with broadcast frequencies so weak that they barely made it off campus. We were not subject to FCC regulation of our content.
Alas, the radio station is inside of the administrative building, so we still had to censor stuff during working hours, but after 5 we could do about anthing we wanted.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

<< Quick question. I'd have a problem with telemarketers calling before or after hours. Who should be responsible for regulating that, if anyone? >>



Apparently, you should sue them

 

[blakeatwork]

For people who get annoyed bu telemarketers, why not just not answer the bloody phone??? Is every phone call you receive so important that it HAS to be picked up?? Do you not at least have caller ID, in order to determine if the calller is valid???

 

[gopunk]

<< For people who get annoyed bu telemarketers, why not just not answer the bloody phone??? Is every phone call you receive so important that it HAS to be picked up?? Do you not at least have caller ID, in order to determine if the calller is valid??? >>



um, well some people depend on their phone for business, etc.

 

[blakeatwork]

<< um, well some people depend on their phone for business, etc. >>


In which case you can use your answering machine to screen calls. The point is, while telemarketers suck, there IS something you can do about it, ie getting off lists, not giving out your phone number etc. While it won't kill ALL phone spam, it will decrease it dramatically.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

<<

<< um, well some people depend on their phone for business, etc. >>


In which case you can use your answering machine to screen calls. The point is, while telemarketers suck, there IS something you can do about it, ie getting off lists, not giving out your phone number etc. While it won't kill ALL phone spam, it will decrease it dramatically. >>



Getting off lists would be viable if there were a national do not call list.

I don't want to force my friends to talk to a machine when they want to get ahold of me, and don't want to pay $5/month to have caller ID to get rid of telemarketers, it shouldn't cost me anything to stop them from calling me, I have the right to use my phone in peace, dammit.

 

[Amused]

Good gawd. As I said before, I NEVER, in the last few years, have been bothered by telemarketers. And before that, it was very seldom and only because the previous owner of my new number was listed.

I did not go to extaordinary lengths to make this happen. In fact, it was very simple. I just thought about it before hand, that's all.

Quite simple:

Have an unlisted number.

Never leave the box checked asking if they or all their buddies can contact you about their new great deals when filling out web sales forms .

If you are called, ask to be taken off the list... but what ever you do, do not let them get out their sales speech. If you listen to it, it only encourages them.

Never give out your number to any business if you don't have to.

It's that easy, folks. I am NOT bothered by these people, and you don't have to be either. There is NO reason to restrict other people's liberties, simply because you don't want to make your contact info private.

If you're being overtly bothered by telemarketers, it's because you let your personal info out to every tom, dick and harry that wanted it. That's YOUR mistake, because you CAN stop them.

 

[TallBill]

man.. i was talking to two guys from the UK and a guy from canada about telemarketing today.. and they just didnt understand how bad it is here

 

[Sir Fredrick]

As I said before, it costs money to be unlisted here. Not cool with me.

 

[rahvin]

<<It's that easy, folks. I am NOT bothered by these people, and you don't have to be either. There is NO reason to restrict other people's liberties, simply because you don't want to make your contact info private. >>

Oh please! Get off your libretarian horse and enter the real world some day.

 

[Amused]

<< <<It's that easy, folks. I am NOT bothered by these people, and you don't have to be either. There is NO reason to restrict other people's liberties, simply because you don't want to make your contact info private. >>

Oh please! Get off your libretarian horse and enter the real world some day. >>



I am in the real world. You see, I'm not sitting here bitching and moaning about something I can easily prevent with a little foresight. I'm not the one seeking to limit everyone else's freedom simply because they annoy me.

THOSE are the folks who are not in the real world. The folks who believe the world revolves around them, that life is supposed to be fair, and that they're entitled to an easy life proved by the government, and at the expense of everyone else's personal and financial freedoms.

Libertarianism is based on reality. The reality that ever increasing limitations on personal freedoms solve nothing, and only cause more crime.

In other words, if you're not willing to protect yourself, or your private information, do NOT expect me to give up my freedoms arbitrarily to appease your sense of insecurity. I refuse to pay for other's unwillingness to take care of themselves.

And no, a law against telemarketing will not affect me. But the slippery slope such a law is riding on WILL affect all of us sooner or later. Only the short sighted will be surprised later.

 

[Amused]

<< As I said before, it costs money to be unlisted here. Not cool with me. >>



That's a problem with your phone company.

 

[charrison]

The worst part about this is it is going to be a "Free" govt service. If you want you name taken off a list, make it a 900 flat fee call to get your name put on the list. A free 800 number is bs.

 

[Linux23]

AmusedOne, you sure you don't do telemarketing?

 

[Ornery]

Quick question (directed specifically at AmusedOne). I'd have a problem with telemarketers calling before or after hours. Who should be responsible for regulating that, if anyone?

 

[Brutuskend]

NO!! ME ME !
I wanna bitchslap the MOFO!!



I hate that telemarketing craP..

 

[OutHouse]

Does this catchy little phrase mean anything? Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness getting a fricken sales call every night at dinner is no different than having somebody knock on my door to sell me something. After a while it gets annoying, then frustrating then down right pissed. when these people invade my family time they are interfeering with MY pursuit of happiness.

amusedone. you keep saying you dont want to restrict their freedom. well what about our freedom to live at home in peace? Its such a huge problem that QWest offers a service that blocks telemarketers. now tell me why should I have to pay out MY money so i can be left alone? Why do I have to pay extra for a unlisted phone number so i dont get bothered at home with unsolicted calls????? Because i have to spend money so i dont get harrassed in my own home falls under the pursuit of happiness.

 

[TuffGirl]

<<

<< "We think that communication is protected by the constitutional right to free speech." >>



How about the right to be leaved alone in your own home??

Only thing that annoy me more than telemarketers is spammers :disgust:... >>


^^^ werd

Since free speech is protected by the Constitution, how about creating a new amendment to protect our right not to be harrassed in our own home?

 

[Ornery]

Quick question (directed specifically at AmusedOne). I'd have a problem with telemarketers calling before or after hours. Who should be responsible for regulating that, if anyone?

 

[Ornery]

I hope to hell this ain't purposely being ignored!

 

[Amused]

<< Quick question (directed specifically at AmusedOne). I'd have a problem with telemarketers calling before or after hours. Who should be responsible for regulating that, if anyone? >>



I gave up on this thread.

But my answer is "you." Anyone I know who has followed my guidelines above do NOT get bothered with any signifigant number of telemarketing calls. And NEVER after hours. Your phone number is personal information. Just like ALL your other info; if you put it out willy nilly, EXPECT it to be abused.

 

[Ornery]

Why don't people get bothered "after hours"? Are there laws against that or not? Should there be? Should I be allowed to call whoever I want, anytime I want?

 

[Ornery]

TELEPHONE PRIVACY - IT'S THE LAW

• Two federal laws regulate telemarketing. Additionally, individual states may have specific laws regarding the use of telephone lines for telemarketing.
  
  Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991
  
  This law requires that businesses:
  • 
    · Take you off their list if you ask them to do so.
    
    · Have a written policy for maintaining ?do not call? lists that is available upon demand.
    
    · Can call only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., unless they have your express consent, or unless you have an established business relationship.
    
    · Cannot use a fax machine, computer or other device to send an unsolicited ad unless the receiving party has given prior consent.
    
    · Cannot use a prerecorded message unless the called party consents or the call is for emergency purposes.
    
    · Tax-exempt or nonprofit organizations are not required to comply with the ?do not call? list requirements. And, the laws do not apply to calls made to businesses.
    
    · The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 allows you to sue a telemarketer in state court under certain conditions.
  
  The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Abuse Prevention Act
  • 
    
    · This law also requires telemarketers to keep ?do not call? lists, and, under certain conditions, you can sue telemarketers in federal court if they do not comply.
    
    · They are restricted to the hours of calling and must make certain disclosures during the course of the call about the nature of the call and the goods or services they represent.
    
    · They cannot make false or misleading statements or misrepresent any information including the total cost and the quality of any goods or services they are offering.
    
    · Under this law, ?do not call? lists don?t apply to nonprofit organizations, but they do apply to telemarketing companies providing services for nonprofit organizations if the telemarketers sell goods and services as part of the call.

Oh Lord, these laws are leading down the slippery slope against free speech! OMG, the end is near! :Q

 

[indd]

On one hand, I agree with AmusedOne in that because we live in reality, we should do what we can to protect ourselves from this bullsh!t. But on the other hand, telemarketers are just like spammers.. the problem is that they are wasting my time. Sometimes, I get 20 or 30 letters in my inbox and feel pretty important.. but maybe one or two are pertinent to me. I have to sift through all the junk, and there's nothing I can do about it. I do have e-mail addresses that don't get spam, and it IS easy to have one that doesn't get junk. But it still sucks that there's not all that much that you can do about it. Even though you can take lawsuits against the companies that bother you, you know some other telemarketer will call you.

We (people) can't do much about telemarketing, so who will? But the idea of an all-too-powerful government doesn't sound good either. So for the feds regulating all of this, it's a really tough call.

An easy way to get rid of a telemarketer: sometimes my dad picks up phrases that he doesn't understand fully. So this telemarketer calls for my brother (who's at an out of town college) and my dad says, "I'm sorry, he's no longer with us".. that was so awesome.

indd