| Comment Number: | OL-110438 |
| Received: | 12/16/2004 1:19:15 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Talmo |
| State: | DE |
| 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 registry has been remarkably successful from the vantage point of a consumer. Almost immediately from its inception, unwanted calls during relaxation time, dinners, and other moments has nearly been eliminated. There are three major points I would like to make in relation to the proposed loophole for allowing pre-recorded messages from groups with which I've had a business relationship. First and foremost, my home and my telephone service is paid for by me, and is meant to meet my needs and is for my use and those I allow access. Individuals and businesses have no right to expect that I should welcome their intrusions and the government should not assume that a purchase on my part constitutes a right for the business to intrude on my privacy. The telephone is there for my use at my pleasure, and is not there as a marketing tool for others. Second, and perhaps more important, is the definition of business relationship. A few years ago, most of my purchases were made within my community. A few department stores, grocery stores, and other local businesses provided many of the goods and services needed. Very occasionally a purchase would be made via catalog for mail delivery. While many of those relationships still exist, the digital world has opened up very far-reaching. so-called relationships. I, like many internet purchasers, now can find goods for sale from sellers in every part of the country. No longer do I simply try to find what I need at a local department store or one or two catalogs. I now make many one-time purchases from companies that I may never contact again. I fear that these simple one time purchases will constitute a so-called business relationship with respect to this loophole, and thus open the floodgates of pre-recorded calls from businesses with which I have no intent to contact again. And with the prospect of these purchases increasing the likelihood of receiving unwanted calls, I may be less inclined to utilize this type of commerce. Lastly, allowing pre-recorded calls will be a boon to telemarketing organizations, who could, like internet spammers, be able to reach thousands of consumers at very little cost. Allowing a loophole that is very cheap to implement will definitely create a surge of intrusions that will be even more annoying in their robotic anonymity. This proposal needs to be withdrawn, and the government should be proud of the Do-Not-Call registry and what it has accomplished. We finally have some uninterrupted privacy, and this proposal will effectively negate the gains that have been made. Telemarketers never should have had the right to intrude on what limited family time we have, and that has finally been made right. Now it must be maintained.