The Federal Trade Commission faces a dilemma as it once again attempts to kill a wireless urban legend that just won’t die.
“The Federal Trade Commission today reiterated that despite the claims made in e-mails circulating on the Internet, consumers should not be concerned that their cellphone numbers will be released to telemarketers in the near future, and that it is not necessary to register cellphone numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry to be protected from most telemarketing calls to cellphones,” the agency stated.
While the Do Not Call list accepts registrations of landline and wireless numbers alike, the Federal Communications Commission has a permanent ban on telemarketers using automated dialers to call cellphone numbers. There are 145 million wireline and wireless numbers in the registry.
To its credit, the FTC has repeatedly posted “The Truth about Cellphones and the Do Not Call Registry” advisory several times since the program was crafted by the Federal Communications Commission and FTC in 2003. The agencies attribute rumors about telemarketers getting their hands on mobile-phone numbers and other falsehoods associated with the Do Not Call registry to an industry effort aborted several years ago to launch a wireless 411 directory. In September 2004, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed into law legislation requiring mobile-phone carriers to obtain consent from consumers to list their phone numbers in such a directory. At least one company, Intelius Inc., is in the business of charging customers about $15 to look up find a cellphone number.
Possible purge
But while the FTC is setting the record straight for anxious wireless subscribers and reassuring others they aren’t fair game for telemarketers, consumers by this time may have been unwittingly lulled into a false sense of security. The FTC is planning to purge individuals’ phone numbers from the Do Not Call Registry beginning next June and consumers will have to re-register to keep telemarketers at bay. Each phone number will be deleted from the registry five years from date it was entered in the Do Not Call Registry. The idea behind re-registration is that someone assigned an old phone number would, without consent, be automatically entered into the Do Not Call database. That rationale does not fly with some lawmakers, who want to make the database permanent.
Leading the charge are Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“The Do Not Call list was one of the most popular actions the federal government has ever taken,” said Doyle, vice chairman of the House telecom subcommittee “It makes no sense to force people to sign up again every couple of years. Unfortunately, that’s just what will happen if action isn’t taken.”
The FTC does not presently highlight the fact that under current law consumers must re-register with the Do Not Call Registry. The reason is the agency does not know whether legislation to make the registry permanent will be approved by Congress this year. Meantime, an FTC spokesman said a major campaign to remind consumers to re-register will be rolled out in early 2008 if lawmakers fail to get legislation approved.
