| Comment Number: | OL-110410 |
| Received: | 12/16/2004 12:02:16 PM |
| Organization: | private citizen and harassed telephone subscriber |
| Commenter: | Mike Calhoun |
| State: | FL |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Do Not Call should mean no unsolicited calls period. Where in my subscribers contract with my local telephone carrier do I waive my right to privacy. I have to pay to have my number unlisted, or to delete my home address from published directories and directory assistance. Where in contract law do I implicity waive my right to privacy when I subscribe to telephone service. The assumption should be no calls permitted (except reverse 9-1-1 emergency info). No charities, no telemarketing, no pre-recorded answering machine spam. It's my phone line, I pay for it and I humbly assert my right to limit its use by others.My phone number is an account and customer number, similar to a bank account number or credit card number. It's use and distribution should be at my discretion, presumed to be private unless I explicitly permit it. Common sense dictates that a citizen expressing their desire to be on the Do Not Call list is clearly asserting their right to privacy. I am tired of government's failure to protect my privacy by creating loopholes and exceptions for businesses and charities who continue to bombard me on a daily basis. I know many people who are giving up landline service in favor of cellular phones, simply to avoid unsolicited phone calls. I am considering joining them. If I was in the landline telephone business I'd be very concerned about this trend. The failure to respect a customer's assertion they do not want to be called is becoming a major factor in the decline of landline residential telephone service. The FTC's continued failure to vigorously enforce the current rules, and this proposal to weaken them further, is proof the honorable commissioners still don't get it. I shouldn't have to register on a list to retain my privacy, assume everyone has the right unless they waive it. Do Not Call should mean what it says. Enforce it, strengthen it, and respect my privacy. Don't make me start calling you at home. I can have your home number right?