FTC Again Lauds Do-Not-Call List in Annual Report

Once again, the Federal Trade Commission has put out a report calling the national do-not-call registry a screaming success.

“The National Do Not Call Registry is, by virtually every available measure, an effective consumer protection measure,” the FTC said in its annual report to Congress, the contents of which was released Thursday.

The Do Not Call Implementation Act — signed into law in March 2003 — requires the FTC and the Federal Communications Commission to issue yearly reports until 2007 on the effectiveness of the registry.

As of Sept. 30 2006, there were 132.2 million numbers on the national registry, the FTC’s report said. In the first four days following the launch of the registry on June 27, 2003, more than 10 million numbers were registered.

Further, the no-call list received almost 25 million new registrations in 2006, according to the FTC.

“American continue to enthusiastically embrace the Do Not Call Registry,” the report said.

The FTC also said that the relatively low number of complaints — about 1.1 million — it received in 2006 indicates a high degree of compliance by telemarketers and a “meaningful reduction” in unwanted calls.

During fiscal 2006, 6,824 entities paid a total of $21.7 million to access the registry, the report said. The registry has generated $59 million since its launch, the report added.

Moreover, in 2006 58,816 organizations accessed five or fewer area codes at no charge, the report said.

In 2004 the fee per area code was raised form $25 to $40, with the first five area codes provided free.

Violating the National Do Not Call Registry subjects telemarketers to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation. As of Sept. 30 2006, the FTC had filed 28 cases alleging violations and had settled 21 of them for a total of $15.8 million in penalties and redress, the FTC reported.

The FTC also claimed it has made progress toward its goal of working with the states to create a single national no-call registry in an effort to simplify business compliance.

Since the national program began, seven states that had no-call registries of their own have stopped collecting numbers and are now relying on the national registry, the FTC said.

Another 10 states that did not have registries at the time the national program went into effect have enacted laws adopting the national program, the report said. And 18 states have contributed 11.5 million numbers to the national registry.

However, as of the end of 2006, seven states still operated their own registries and had not contributed any data to the national program, the report said.