Over 50 million US consumers have registered already with the Do-Not-Call Registry, saying 'No' to telemarketing. From next month, telemarketers are required to check the list every three months to clean their lists for those numbers that have opted-out. Telemarketers that call a number on the list could be fined up to $11,000 per call.
It was reported on Tuesday that an Oklahoma federal judge had ruled that the FTC had no constitutional authority to run the Registry. Judge Lee West said should have been an "unambiguous grant of authority" allowing the FTC to create the registry and, in his opinion, there was not.
There is now. With the Do-Not-Call Registry threatened, and pressure from 50 million frustrated individuals, Congress acted quickly.
Reuters reports that the House of Representatives yesterday voted 412-8 to grant the necessary "unambiguous authority" to the FTC. The Senate approved it 95-0 and President Bush said shortly afterwards that he looks forward to signing the legislation calling unwanted telemarketing calls "intrusive, annoying and all too common."
But according to Associated Press, a federal judge in Denver then followed his Oklahoma colleague, ruling that the list violates free-speech protections.
His argument was that the registry rules do not apply equally to all kinds of speech, blocking commercial telemarketing calls but not calls from charities. Judge Edward Nottingham wrote: "The FTC has chosen to entangle itself too much in the consumer's decision by manipulating consumer choice.''
Accordingly the list is not yet cleared. Even after the legislation is signed by Bush, the FTC still needs to win in court.