Comment Number: OL-105825
Received: 12/5/2004 2:30:58 AM
Organization:
Commenter: Eckley
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:

Please do not allow any leniency to be added to the current Do Not Call provisions. It has been such a relief to be able to answer my phone in the evenings and on weekends and know it's not someone invading my privacy, wasting my time, and tying up my phone line. If someone with whom I have an established business relationship wants to contact me, they can do so via billing statement inserts, emails or other means that I can choose to deal with in my own time, not the moment they call. In addition, I believe it is unfair to allow anyone to use a prerecorded or other non-person-to-person calling method to invade my privacy, waste my time, and tie up my phone line. I personally have to deal with each unwanted phone call that comes in when it comes in; it's not fair that companies could bother me without at least having to pay a real person to make the intrusion. The proposed change makes it cheaper and easier for people I don't want to talk to in the first place to bother me. Also, a recorded message makes it difficult if not impossible to tell the caller to take me off their call list, a rule that has been allowed by law since before the "Do Not Call" provisions went into effect. As for the call abandonment safe harbor portion of the proposed changes, I cannot understand what the proposed change is exactly from what's available online, but I am firmly against anything that makes it easier for people to invade my privacy, waste my time, and tie up my phone line. Please do not allow the DMA, other trade group or lobbyists to undo citizen's ability to feel safe and free within their own homes. Our rights are being diminished outside of those walls; we need to protect as much freedom and safety as possible. Thank you.