The Direct Marketing Association has decided that it will no longer pursue legal actions in response to a federal appellate court ruling last month that upheld the National Do-Not-Call registry.
“We have considered our options with legal counsel and teleservices users and suppliers in our broad membership, and have decided not to pursue further litigation regarding the National-Do-Not Call registry,” DMA president and CEO H. Robert Wientzen said in a statement.
Wientzen said that consumers’ wishes to place their numbers on the list would to be respected by the association’s members, as they had since the list took effect Oct. 1. About 56 million telephone numbers have been registered on the list.
After months of legal wrangling, on Feb. 19 the federal appeals court ruled that the national do-not-call registry was constitutional, allowing the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission to continue to operate and enforce the list.
“The court has made it clear that the FTC and FCC can and will continue to protect consumers’ privacy at home,” FTC chairman Timothy J. Muris said at the time.
Last fall, the legality of the list came into question when a district judge ruled that it was unconstitutional on free-speech grounds because it applied to calls from businesses but not charities. The DMA was one of a number of groups that had challenged the constitutionality of the list.
The FTC said that in 2003 fewer than 45 companies have received more than 100 complaints from consumers. Some 150,000 possible violations have been reported and top violators are being looked at, the FTC said.
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