Contact
the FTC:
Speak Out about Pre-Recorded Telemarketing Calls
Did you put your telephone number on the
national Do-Not-Call Registry (DNC), but still get sales calls from
companies you’ve never heard
of? Quite likely many unwanted sales calls you get today are not made
by a live person. Instead many companies use auto-dialers, programmed
to start a recorded message the minute you answer the phone. But, the
calls that probably really get your dander up are the “dead air” calls,
when you run to catch the phone but are met with silence.
Even if you signed up for DNC list, FTC rules
allow companies that claim an “established business relationship” (EBR)
to still call you. You have an EBR, the FTC says, if you purchased
something within the previous 18 months or even inquired about
a product or service within the previous three months. With a claimed
EBR, a company can still call you, but the FTC did not say the company
could leave a prerecorded message. And, the FTC rules still allow a
percentage of “dead air,” or abandoned, calls.
In November 2004, the FTC announced a proposal
to grant a telemarketing industry petition to allow prerecorded messages
for sales calls based on an EBR. The PRC, joined by the Utility Consumers’ Action
Network (UCAN), filed comments strongly opposing this move. (www.privacyrights.org/ar/FTC-TSREBR.htm)
Just recently in October 2006, the FTC issued another request for comment
saying it had decided against allowing prerecorded messages for established
clients. The agency indicated it was strongly swayed by comments from
over 13,000 consumers and consumer advocates.
The FTC is again asking the public to weigh
in with opinions on prerecorded messages and “dead air” calls. Specifically, the FTC is asking
for comments, among other things, on whether it should include an explicit
prohibition on prerecorded telemarketing calls. The agency also wants
to know if a “reasonable” consumer would consider prerecorded
telemarketing sales calls abusive to privacy rights. And, the latest
proposal still allows a percentage of sales calls to be abandoned calls..
If you agree with us that consumers should
not be subject to prerecorded sales calls or abandoned calls,
you can send the FTC a sample letter, available at: www.privacyrights.org/ar/FTCprerecletter.htm . The
deadline is coming right up, December 18.
To read the entire proposal, along with questions on specific issues,
go to www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/10/fyi0662.htm .
For more information on the DNC Registry and to register your telephone
numbers, see the FTC’s site at, www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dncalrt.htm .
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