| Comment Number: | OL-103148 |
| Received: | 11/28/2004 8:21:13 AM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Stephen Baker |
| State: | TX |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
The Do-Not-Call list has been without doubt the most publically endorsed and supported act that the FTC has ever done. People are finally freed from something they most emphatically do not want. Allowing advertising from companies with 'established business relationships' means we'll be back to getting junk calls from any company we've ever dealt with. This will include all of the phone companies, credit card companies, banks - all of the people who were the worst and most annoying telemarketers before the Do-No-Call list came about. There may - just possibly - be a tiny number of people who actually LIKE this kind of interruption to their otherwise peaceful home lives - but those people can already arrange to get all the junk calls they could possibly wish for simply by not signing onto the DNC list in the first place. The people of the USA have already made it clear what they want by signing up for the DNC list in the numbers they have. By changing the law you'd be going directly contrary to the clearly expressed views of the people of the USA. Government is FOR THE PEOPLE. Not for banks, telephone companies and other big businesses. Companies will argue that they need advertising like this in order to improve their business penetration - but that simply is not the case. The majority of telemarketters (particularly the ones with pre-existing business relations with people - yet who still need to advertise) are operating in a zero sum game. Selling telephone service to someone who already has a phone may improve one phone companies bottom line - but it takes away from another. Pretty soon they are all advertising and their business levels are back precisely where they were before they started advertising. The customer gets the interruptions and bears the cost of running the telemarketting - the only companies that win are those whose entire existance is based around annoying people at the supper table. Far from relaxing the DNC restrictions, the FTC should be tightening them. The present exemptions for Charities should be removed and Political candidates should only be permitted to cold-call people who are registered to their political party. Thank you for reading my comments.