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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (75438)	9/24/2003 4:08:20 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

This sucks: Judge Rules Against 'Do-Not-Call' List From Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its authority in creating the national "do-not-call" list against telemarketers. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by telemarketers who challenged the list of 50 million people who submitted their telephone numbers and said they do not want to receive business solicitation calls. The immediate impact of Tuesday's ruling U.S. District Judge Lee R. West was not clear. He did not immediately issue an order directing an action by the FTC. The list was to go into effect Oct. 1. The judge said the main issue in the case was "whether the FTC had the authority to promulgate a national do-not-call registry. The court finds it did not." West said the 1994 Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act gave the Federal Communications Commission, not the FTC, the authority to operate a national database of people who object to receiving telephone solicitations. The FTC, however, said the Omnibus Appropriations Act, signed by President Bush this past February, authorizes it to "implement and enforce the do-not-call provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule." "This decision is clearly incorrect," FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said today. "We will seek every recourse to give American consumers a choice to stop unwanted telemarketing calls." House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said today they were confident the ruling would be overturned. "Contrary to the court's decision, we firmly believe Congress gave the FTC authority to implement the national do-not-call list," they said in a joint statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation and will take whatever legislative action is necessary to ensure consumers can stop intrusive calls from unwanted telemarketers." Direct Marketing Association, one of the plaintiffs, said it was happy with the ruling, even though it "acknowledges the wishes of millions of U.S. consumers who have expressed their preferences not to receive telephone-marketing solicitations -- as evidenced by the millions of phone numbers registered on the FTC list." Calls to the FTC were not immediately returned today. The telemarketing industry estimates that the do-not-call list could cut its business in half, costing it up to $50 billion in sales each year. Telemarketers would have to check the list every three months to see who doesn't want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation. The suit was filed by U.S. Security, Chartered Benefit Services Inc., Global Contact Services Inc., InfoCision Management Corp. and Direct Marketing Association Inc. A similar lawsuit is pending in Denver, where the trade group American Teleservices Association and two telemarketing companies sued in January to keep the FTC from starting the do-not-call program.