[Malachai Constant]

Thanks to a recent decision in Oklahoma District Court there are about 50 million of us who have just given the slime of the earth free reign. They have been able and are still able to download the the names numbers and e-mails of everyone who signed up for the list.

[MCaver]

They can call my numbers all they want. I'm having them disconnected in a few days. I broke down and just got my first cell phone (welcome to the 90s).

[Karen]

My solution: never answer the phone. I don't like to yack on the phone anyway and unless I am expecting an IMPORTANT call from a friend or relative, I don't answer it. Anyone who really needs to get in touch with me can leave a message and I will get back to them. I view the telephone as an interruption (always did see it that way) but still a necessary evil, at least for me. Karen

[MooseAndSquirrel]

Karen's got a point there. I always screen my calls and friends & family know they may not get an immediate response. It's a choice of the phone ruling you or you ruling the phone. So far I've managed without a cellphone too- something I take a kind of backhanded pride in. What really gets me is how the telemarketing business stays in business (and spammers)- are there really that many suckers out there having their lives disrupted by a sales pitch? Don't answer that, I already know...

[Allison]

Mal, First of all, this is not over. Hopefully it will get appealed. Second of all, let me ask you, did you get the impression that the list of "Do Not Call' is specifically being handed over to the Telemarketers or more like the list is currently null and void?

[Malachai Constant]

1. Of course it will get appealed, but it could likely be sustained. I doubt that a federal judge would make a ruling that unpopular without some basis. The problem comes with the fact findings which are not tossed out unless "clearly erroneous. 2. Telemarketers already have the list as it was supplied by the FTC. They had to be told who "not to call" in computer readable form.

[Stefan]

[Karen]

Stefan, That depends on WHAT you call me!!!!! Karen

[BarePaw]

Telemarketers have actually started leaving messages on my machine. It's terrible. I'll check my messages after having been gone for a week and there will be three or four advertisements for Disney vacations.

[Dante]

I heard oon the radio that Congress is considering action to address the judge's concern. The piece oted that this is one of the few areas where ther is consensus among consumer groups, a majority of representatives in Congress, and in the White House. The industry is proceeding with a second appeal that argues the list violates telemarketing companies' free speach rights. Now I will briefly get on my soap box to note Corporations did not even have any "free speach rights" until a court reporter made a mistake in a headnote for the Supreme Court's decision in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1886) and lawyers ran with it. (See e.g. LINK) Before that, the Bill of Rights only applied to human beings. After that, most 14th Amendment cases were about corporations and not human beings, let alone the former slaves it was meant to protect. End of rant...

[janders]

Congress Directs Telemarketers to Stick DNC Registry Up Their Butt And Light It On Fire View article on CNN here Thursday, September 25, 2003 Posted: 12:44 PM EDT (1644 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives on Thursday granted the Federal Trade Commission authority to create a national "do-not-call" list for telemarketers on Thursday and the Senate is expected to follow suit. The quick action comes a day after a federal judge ruled the FTC needed a congressional mandate to create the wildly popular list. "Fifty million Americans can't be wrong," Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Louisiana, declared Wednesday, referring to the number of people who have signed up to block the unwanted solicitations. Votes to overturn the judge's order are expected in the Senate today as well, according to Republican leadership aides. "The goal is to get it to the president's desk today," said Jack Finn, a spokesman for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, who is sponsoring the Senate bill. Lawmakers expect the quick Congressional action means the new list will take effect October 1 as was expected before Wednesday's court ruling. Wednesday, a U.S. District Court determined that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its bounds by creating such a list. "Admittedly, the elimination of telemarketing fraud and the prohibition against deceptive and abusive telemarketing acts or practices are significant public concern; however, 'an administrative agency's power to regulate in the public interest must always be grounded in a valid grant of authority from Congress.' Absent such a grant of authority in this case, the Court finds the do-not-call provision to be invalid," the court order stated. In late June, the federal government launched a national "do-not-call" registry aimed at stopping most telemarketing phone calls to people who regard the sales pitches as invasive and want them blocked. On the first day of registration, more than 730,000 people had registered to halt such calls to their phone numbers. Five plaintiffs, four of which were telemarketing services, filed suit questioning the FTC's authority to create such a registry and impose rules for automated dialing. The fifth plaintiff, organized as a nonprofit trade association, represents about 5,000 U.S. companies. Charities, surveys and calls on behalf of politicians are exempt from the registry.

[Malachai Constant]

A second judge has issued an order banning the list

[Stefan]

Can I see the list?