The Federal Trade Commission is on track with its plan to begin a national do-not-call list, announced in December, despite legislative wrangling that could have delayed the registry a year or longer. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will support the FTC’s bid for $16 million from Congress to begin the registry, and Congressional authority to levy fees from telemarketers to use the list.
Committee Chairman W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R, LA) said in December that he would block funding for the registry until his committee has “adequate opportunity to properly review and evaluate” the plan, per his letter to FTC Chairman Timothy Muris; Tauzin questioned whether the FTC has legal authority to establish a national registry.
The Direct Marketing Association vows to challenge the FTC legally. The DMA contends its own registry and state do-not-call lists are sufficient, and federal intervention is unnecessary. “The FTC’s proposed do-not-call list would set up the agency and the industry for a black eye because it cannot deliver on the consumer expectations that the FTC has created,” said DMA President-CEO Robert Wientzen in a statement. “The FTC simply does not have jurisdiction to broadly implement the proposed list and is not authorized to spend federal funds in this manner.”
The FTC’s plans call for a service that lets consumers register (for free) online or by phone to block most telemarketing calls for five years. Telemarketers will be required to scrub their call lists against the registry every three months; they’ll pay a fee (not yet set) to access the list. The FTC plans to work with the Federal Communications Commission and states that have their own do not call lists to create a single list, so marketers have only one list with which to comply. It will take 12 to 18 months for some states to merge their lists with the national registry.
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