The National Do-Not-Call Registry exceeded 145 million telephone numbers in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2007. This reflects an increase of more than 19 million telephone numbers registered to avoid unwanted telemarketing calls, according to an annual report submitted to Congress by the Federal Trade Commission, as mandated by law.
Consumers either called a toll free number or registered their telephone numbers online. More than 11.6 million telephone numbers added to the federal database came from 18 states that contributed telephone numbers from do-not-call registries operated at the state level.
Last year the do-not-call database was used by approximately 66,000 telemarketing and other organizations to purge telephone numbers from calling lists. More than $21.6 million in fees were paid for access to the database. Fees were waived for 59,337 entities accessing data for five or fewer area codes.
It’s mandatory to use the list for telemarketing, with certain exemptions such as nonprofit fundraising and for political groups. Compliance is generally high, according to the FTC’s 15-page report. It stated that registry is effective in terns of the volume of registered telephone numbers and reductions in telemarketing calls.
The FTC initiated legal proceedings in only three new cases alleging violations of telemarketing do-not-call list regulations last year. It resolved or added defendants to eight other cases filed prior to 2007 that had been pending.
A survey conducted by Harris Interactive in October 2007 concluded that 73% of consumers have registered their telephone numbers to avoid telemarketing calls, but only 18% received no calls. Seventy-three percent of consumers received some telemarketing calls, but fewer than before they registered their telephone numbers on the list.
Like the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission must also submit an annual report to Congress concerning the federal do-not-call list.
