WASHINGTON-Enforcement of the constitutionally disputed Do-Not-Call Registry will continue notwithstanding the current legal uncertainties. However, there will be only manual enforcement rather than the automated enforcement envisioned when the registry was created this summer, said Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
It will now be necessary for the FCC to go to a manual complaint evidentiary process to prove that a telemarketer has knowingly called someone who had signed up on the Do-No-Call Registry, said Powell, noting the FCC had not downloaded the list from the Federal Trade commission because it had expected this to be an automated, computerized process.
Following court action Monday and a decision issued very late Monday night, the FTC has blocked access to the list because it believes it could be held in contempt if access continues. Telemarketers had access to the list beginning in early September after paying a fee. Consumers can no longer add their names to the list.
