| Comment Number: | OL-106258 |
| Received: | 12/6/2004 9:27:12 AM |
| Organization: | Private Citizen |
| Commenter: | Timothy Hassell |
| State: | VA |
| 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 create an additional call abandonment safe harbor allowing telemarketing calls delivering prerecorded messages. The proposed change does not work in the interest of consumers who want to avoid additional marketing messages encroaching upon their private time. The technology associated with delivering pre-recorded messages simply saves the telemarketing industry money while exponentially expanding the number of households they can reach at the expense of the public interest and individual privacy. More importantly, changing the metric for measuring "call abandonment" permits telemarketers to concentrate abandoned calls during the times potential recipients are available to receive calls. A thirty-day period creates the opportunity to statistically balance the number of abandoned calls over a greater timeframe, effectively eliminating the intent of the original constraint. A daily average compels telemarketers to more effectively manage the number of abandoened calls. Regardless of any established business relationship I do not need nor want any commercial enterprise contacting me. I will contact businesses when I wish to conduct business with them, not when they want to sell me something. The National Do-Not-Call registry constitutes the best type of governmental regulation for citizens by protecting against relentless marketing enabled by evolving communication technology while simultaneously guarding individual freedom of choice concerning availability to marketing calls. Please do not dilute the protections clearly embraced by millions of Americans. Expanding the loopholes for telemarketers only serves an industry reviled by many, and leaves citizens without recourse to opening their homes--and limited time--to a special interest utterly without regard for privacy.