The furor surrounding the federal do-not-call list took on the air of a French farce in late September, as direct marketers watched the government flip-flop back and forth on whether the list was constitutional.
First, U.S. District Judge Lee R. West in Oklahoma City ruled that the FTC lacked the proper statutory authority from Congress to administer this list. His ruling was in response to a lawsuit by the DMA and three telemarketers.
That led both the House and Senate to quickly pass legislation enabling the FTC to administer this list. And although President Bush signed a law authorizing the implementation of a federal do-not-call list, its implementation may yet be stymied by challenges on constitutional grounds.
Then separately, U.S. District Judge Edward W. Nottingham in Denver ruled the list was unconstitutional because it restrained telemarketers from commercial free speech while still allowing calls from charities.
As of Sept. 29, an appeals court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission would be allowed to enforce the registry. At deadline, the American Teleservices Association (ATA) had asked the Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court’s decision, but had not received an answer.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell said his agency would enforce the penalties because the FTC was prevented from doing so by a federal judge’s order. The list will take effect Oct. 1 as originally planned.
So what should marketers do?
The Direct Marketing Association asked all direct marketers to abide by the list, which contains the names of the more than 50 million people who don’t want to receive telemarketing calls.
Network
