There will be two fewer companies making telemarketing calls to the 1.6 million Missouri households on the stateÕs No Call list because of agreements between Attorney General Jay Nixon and telephone giants MCI and AT&T. The agreements settle lawsuits Nixon filed against the telephone companies last summer.
ÒTelephone companies were exempted by the General Assembly from the No Call law and legislators have failed to close that loophole the past three years, so these agreements are significant,Ó Nixon said in a statement.
Nixon said telemarketing calls from telephone companies have been the biggest source of complaints to his office from Missourians on the No Call list, with more than 10,000 complaints registered. Last July, Nixon filed lawsuits against AT&T, MCI and Southwestern Bell, alleging those telephone companies violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Nixon said the violations occurred when the companies made repeat telemarketing calls to consumers who specifically asked those companies not to call them.
Under the agreements, MCI and AT&T will obtain copies of the Missouri No Call database from the Attorney GeneralÕs Office and then will obtain the updated versions as they become available four times a year. The companies will use the database and institute an employee training program to ensure their representatives do not make telemarketing calls to the numbers on the list and will provide NixonÕs office with their own do not call lists.
Also under the agreements, MCI will pay $40,000 to the state, and AT&T will pay $10,000 to the state. Furthermore, violations of the agreements will carry a $1,000 penalty.
Last September, Nixon reached an agreement with Sprint Communications, which was not named in the lawsuits, for the company to obtain a copy of the No Call list and not make telemarketing calls to those Missourians. The lawsuit against Southwestern Bell is pending in federal court.
