Do-Not-Call List Requires Re-Registration

The national Do-Not-Call list began taking numbers in June 2003. If your number is on the list, telemarketers are prohibited from calling your number or they could be charged a fine of up to $11,000 per violation. Although some telemarketers have found a way around this by for example calling your house for simple survey purposes and then obtaining your permission to call back, which then is the sales pitch. And of course there are the politicians and charity organizations, which can still dial your number without fear of such punishment. However, for the most part, this is a simple way of getting rid of those annoying telemarketing calls, and millions of Americans took advantage of this simple way to get a quiet dinnertime and a quieter life. Today the list has over 149 million numbers on it. Unfortunately, this is about to change next year.

Numbers placed on the register are only kept on record for five years. Then the numbers are dropped and those pesky telemarketers can happily dial your number again. This is unless you actually remember to re-register you number with the national Do-Not-Call list in a timely manner.

Yes, the re-registering process is simple. It was simple to sign up in the first place. But why should we be forced to re-register our phone numbers every five years. Why not make it permanent? Do they really expect me to remember every five years to register my number with them? Can't they just send me at least a reminder email? Or a reminder call? What is the big deal of forcing me to re-register? Do they seriously think after five years of peace I am tired of the quietness and would like to have a nice chat with some telemarketers? What gives?

The reason behind this re-registering rule is to account for the fact that people move and often get another number. On the other hand, such disconnected and/or re-assigned numbers are already automatically dropped from the list on a monthly basis. It's a simple maintenance issue. So, why not make it permanent?

Thus, Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa, has introduced legislation to that respect. And he has bi-partisan support on that issue. In the meantime, the FTC is planning on rolling out an education program for the consumers in the spring to remind them to re-register and how to do so. An avoidable expense for a program that would have to continue on an annual basis to remind consumers to re-register with the list.

Just in case, mark your calendar for May 2008, or whatever is the five-year-anniversary is of your original registration with the Do-Not-Call list. To re-register go to http://www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222.