| Comment Number: | OL-105145 |
| Received: | 11/30/2004 3:17:06 PM |
| Organization: | Individual |
| Commenter: | Debra Curran |
| State: | CA |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I support the proposed changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule. I've been a marketer (and a consumer) for a long time. In my career, I have seen opposition to every form of personalized mass communication. It started with direct mail, then telemarketing, then faxing, then email. Now there is opposition to Voice Broadcast. There will always be a place for these types of mass communication tools. The unfortunate reality is that there will always be people/organizations who misuse them for their own gain. The solution is not to unilaterally ban mass communication tools. The solution is to set up guidelines for responsible use of mass communication tools and penalties for those who abuse them. It makes no more sense to completely ban pre-recorded calls, than it does to ban all commercial mail, phone calls, faxes or emails. Responsible marketers will not only follow Federal guidelines, but also take extra steps to prevent unwanted calls to their valued customers. Some of those steps would include running their lists against National and State Do Not Call lists on a regular basis, maintaining an internal Do Not Call List and only using responsible Voice Broadcast providers. As a consumer, I appreciate receiving relevant and timely information from organizations which I support or with whom I do business. And I'd like to continue hearing from them. Thank you for considering the changes proposed by VMBC.