Legislation Moving to Make the Do-No-Call List Permanent

Legislation in the House (H.R. 3541) and in the Senate (S. 2096) is moving through Congress that would prohibit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from setting an expiration date for telephone numbers to remain on the national “do-not-call” registry. This is contrary to the FTC’s 2003 policy requiring numbers to come off the list after five years, which would force consumers to sign up for the registry again. In a recent hearing before Congress, the FTC said that it would not purge numbers from the list until Congress acts on this legislation.

Both H.R. 3541 and S. 2096 require the FTC to do a better job of purging numbers that have been disconnected or reassigned, with the House bill requiring the agency to purge numbers every two weeks instead of each month. NAA is lobbying the Senate and House Commerce Committees for additional provisions that will improve the accuracy of the national registry.

The FTC has said that new technology has enabled it to do a better job of “scrubbing” the list of numbers that are invalid or have been reassigned to other consumers. NAA will be inquiring with the FTC about the effectiveness of these new technologies.

In early December, the FCC also introduced a rulemaking seeking comment on its proposal to require telemarketers to honor registrations indefinitely until the number has been cancelled by a consumer or the telephone number has been disconnected or reassigned. NAA plans to file or join industry comments on this proceeding.

First Published:
December 08, 2007