[Infowarrior] - FCC Extends 'Do-Not-Call' Registry indefinately

[Richard Forno]

FCC Extends 'Do-Not-Call' Registry

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/?hpid=news-col-blog

The popular national "Do-Not-Call" registry designed to stop unwanted  
telemarketers from calling consumers has been extended by the  
government agency overseeing the nation's communications systems. The  
previous rules said the registrations would expire after five years.

The registry was set to expire this month, but the Federal  
Communications Commission yesterday released an order (pdf) saying  
new, amended rules mandate that "do-not-call registrations must be  
honored indefinitely, or until the registration is cancelled by the  
consumer of the telephone number is removed by the database  
administrator."

Agency Chairman Kevin Martin said in a prepared statement (pdf) that  
the regulations would have begun to expire shortly "leaving millions  
of consumers without protection from unwanted telemarketing calls."

"This rule change serves to minimize the inconvenience to consumers of  
having to re-register their phone numbers every five years and  
furthers the underlying goal of the Registry to protect consumer  
privacy rights," according to a document released by the FCC. "This  
will minimize confusion for those consumers that have chosen to avoid  
unwanted telemarketing calls and avoid the inconvenience of having to  
re-register every five years."

Businesses of all sizes should note this extention so as not to  
suddenly begin telemarketing to members of this list. If your business  
is listed on the registry, then its privacy should remain in tact.

President Bush signed a law (pdf) in February prohibiting the  
automatic removal of numbers from the registry. The same day, he also  
signed a measure (pdf) reducing the fees businesses must pay to access  
the registry.

The Federal Trade Commission, which collects fees from registry users,  
now charges a $54 annual fee for each area code or data (the first  
five area codes are free) or $14,850 annually for access to every area  
code of data contained in the registry. Prior to this legislation, the  
FTC charged an annual fee of $62 per area code after the first five  
area codes or $17,050 per year for complete access.

FTC data show that more than 157 million phone numbers have been  
included in the registry since it opened in June 2003.