Over 50 million US consumers have already registered with the
Registry, saying 'No' to telemarketing. When in force,
telemarketers will have 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 will be liable for a
fine of up to $11,000 per call.
A court ruling in late September reasoned that the FTC had no
constitutional authority to run the Registry.
Oklahoma Federal Court Judge Lee West said that there should
have been an "unambiguous grant of authority" allowing the FTC to
create the registry and, in his opinion, there was not.
With the Do-Not-Call Registry threatened, and under pressure
from 50 million frustrated individuals, Congress acted quickly to
put in place the necessary legislation, voting it into existence
within a few days.
Then another bombshell hit the FTC. Judge Edward Nottingham from
Denver ruled that the list violated free-speech protections and was
therefore unconstitutional.
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. He wrote: "The FTC has chosen to entangle
itself too much in the consumer's decision by manipulating consumer
choice."
Another agency, the Federal Communications Commission, offered
to enforce the list on behalf of the FTC, but was knocked back by
the terms of the ruling. Nottingham also refused to allow the list
to operate pending the FTC's appeal of his decision.
The FTC was stuck until a federal court ruling, issued on
Tuesday, said that the Registry should be allowed to operate until
the appeal is heard.
According to the Washington Post, the ruling read:"We conclude
that the public does have strong privacy and expectation interests
that weigh in favour of granting this stay".
It continued, "The FTC's justifications of preventing abusive
and coercive sales practices and protecting privacy are substantial
governmental interests."
The FTC immediately began to ready the Registry for operation.
From Friday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, it warns that telemarketers must
refer to and respect the registry. From Saturday at 6 p.m. it will
be taking complaints from consumers whose numbers were on the
registry by 31st August.
In a final dig at the marketers, an FTC spokesman added, "I'll
leave it to you to decide whether it's a coincidence that the
complaint process opens at the dinner hour."
The Denver appeal is due to be heard on 10th November.
