Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team

Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team


(Do they come with capes & Special Powers??)

Washington, D.C.

October 2, 2003


Today, FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell announced the creation of a
special
Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team to enforce the Commission’s Do-Not-Call
telemarketing
rules.

Chairman Powell said: “Swift and strong enforcement of the FCC’s
National
Do-Not-Call rules is our number one enforcement priority.” Enforcement
Bureau
Chief David H. Solomon added: “This Team will ensure that we devote all
the
necessary resources to protect the privacy rights of American consumers.
Our
job
has been made more difficult by recent court decisions relating to the
Federal
Trade Commission’s rules. But telemarketers should make no mistake about
it –
the
FCC is on the job and we will do everything we can to enforce the FCC’s
own
Do-Not-Call rules and our other telemarketing rules.”

The Do-Not-Call Team is composed of experienced attorneys and
investigators.
The
Team is headed by Kurt Schroeder, Deputy Chief of the Enforcement
Bureau’s
Telecommunications Consumers Division. In addition to enforcing the
FCC’s
National Do-Not-Call rules, the Team is also responsible for enforcing
the FCC’s
related telemarketing rules.

An Enforcement Bureau Fact Sheet on the FCC’s telemarketing rules is
attached.


Enforcement Bureau Contacts: Suzanne Tetreault at (202) 418-7450 or Kurt
Schroeder at (202) 418-0966.


ENFORCEMENT BUREAU FACT SHEET: THE FCC’S TELEMARKETING RULES

Under the FCC’s National Do-Not-Call rules, which became effective on
October 1,
2003, telemarketers and businesses may not make sales calls to consumers
who
have
registered their residential telephone numbers on the National
Do-Not-Call
Registry. Although court rulings have created uncertainties in this
area, the
right of consumers to be protected from unwanted telemarketing calls has
remained
in place under these FCC rules.

The FCC also has company-specific Do-Not-Call rules that enable
consumers to
request that individual businesses stop making commercial solicitation
calls to
their residential telephone lines. Businesses are required to honor such
requests
within 30 days and must continue to honor them for five years. These
rules
apply
to all commercial entities and cover calls made both within and between
states,
but not to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. The Enforcement Bureau
recommends
that consumers write down the dates of their Do-Not-Call requests to
individual
businesses, as well as the dates of any subsequent sales calls they
receive from
such businesses after 30 days, so that they can provide this information
to the
Commission if they wish to file a complaint.

The FCC also has rules that protect consumers’ rights to be free from
telemarketing calls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., and to be free from most
telemarketing calls involving pre-recorded commercial messages, which
are
unlawful
even if the consumer has not made a Do-Not-Call request. In addition,
all
telemarketers are required to identify, in their telephone
solicitations, the
name
of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, as well
as a
telephone number or address at which the person or entity may be
contacted.

What Consumers Can Do About Unlawful Sales Calls

Consumers have private recourse against telemarketers that violate FCC
telemarketing rules, including the Do-Not-Call requirements. Under
federal law,
consumers may file lawsuits against the violators in state courts, and
they may
be
awarded $500 in damages or actual monetary loss, whichever is greater,
for each
violation. This amount may be tripled if the consumer is able to show
that the
telemarketer willfully and knowingly violated the FCC’s Do-Not-Call
requirements.

States themselves may also initiate a lawsuit in federal district court
against
telemarketers that violate rights of their residents under the FCC’s
telemarketing
rules. To assist their states with such actions, consumers may wish to
contact
their state consumer protection office or state Attorney General’s
office about
any violations they have experienced. The telephone numbers of these
state
agencies should be listed in the government section of the telephone
directory,
or
they can be obtained by calling directory assistance.

What the FCC Can Do to Help

The FCC will not be resolving individual complaints, and cannot award
monetary
or
other damages directly to consumers, but consumers should still report
violations
of the telemarketing rules. If the FCC receives numerous complaints
about a
single individual or business, it may impose substantial monetary
penalties for
violations of the FCC’s telemarketing rules. The FCC encourages
consumers who
have received such calls to file complaints with the FCC.

Complaints may be filed with the FCC by e-mail (donotcall@f...) ,
telephone
(voice: 1-888-CALL-FCC [1-888-225-5322] , TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC
[1-888-835-5322],
or U.S. mail (Federal Communications Commission, Consumer and
Governmental
Affairs
Bureau, Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division, 445 12th Street, SW,
Washington, D.C. 20554).

The complaint should include:

-- name, address, and telephone number where you can be reached during
the
business day;

-- the telephone number involved with the complaint;

-- as much specific information about the complaint as possible,
including the
identity of the telemarketer or business that called and what the call
was
about.

-- if you are filing a Do-Not-Call complaint, in violation of
Do-Not-Call rules,
the date that you put your telephone number on the National Do-Not-Call
Registry
(if known) or the date you made a Do-Not-Call request to this
telemarketer or
company, as well as the date(s) on which you received subsequent
call(s).

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-239488A1.doc

--
Mark




[posted via phonescoop.com]

---

› See More: Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team

[email protected] (Mark F) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team

How long did it take to establish the Homeland Security dept. post 9-11?

Yet 24 hours after DNC takes effect we already have an "Enforcement
Team"?

Sure we still can't find bin Laden, but if Sears tries selling us vinyl siding
during dinner, by God we'll have their asses!

Glad to know where our priorities are! ;-)

[email protected] (Todd Allcock) wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> [email protected] (Mark F) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team
>
> How long did it take to establish the Homeland Security dept. post 9-11?
>
> Yet 24 hours after DNC takes effect we already have an "Enforcement
> Team"?
>
> Sure we still can't find bin Laden, but if Sears tries selling us vinyl siding
> during dinner, by God we'll have their asses!
>
> Glad to know where our priorities are! ;-)

ROFL!!!

[posted via phonescoop.com]

> [email protected] (Todd Allcock) wrote in article
> <[email protected]>:
> > [email protected] (Mark F) wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team
> >
> > How long did it take to establish the Homeland Security dept. post 9-11?
> >
> > Yet 24 hours after DNC takes effect we already have an "Enforcement
> > Team"?
> >
> > Sure we still can't find bin Laden, but if Sears tries selling us vinyl
> > siding
> > during dinner, by God we'll have their asses!
> >
> > Glad to know where our priorities are! ;-)


Silly - we have no idea where Bin Ladin is or if he is alive,
we know exactly where Sears is.

"Phill." <[email protected]> wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
>
> Silly - we have no idea where Bin Ladin is or if he is alive,
> we know exactly where Sears is.

We can also pinpoint the location of a cel phone call, take pictures of
that person from a sattelite in orbit, then listen to his conversation.

Also, pick his emails out of the 'net'..

And then all our prez has to do is sign a paper and the Bill or Rights
is no more.

[posted via phonescoop.com]

"Todd Allcock" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Mark F) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Powell announces the creation of a special Do-Not-Call Enforcement Team
>
> How long did it take to establish the Homeland Security dept. post 9-11?
>
> Yet 24 hours after DNC takes effect we already have an "Enforcement
> Team"?
>
> Sure we still can't find bin Laden, but if Sears tries selling us vinyl
siding
> during dinner, by God we'll have their asses!
>
> Glad to know where our priorities are! ;-)

Think about it - if there had been as much foreknowledge of 9-11 as there
was DNC, 9-11 would have been different!

DNC did NOT happen overnite. It has been in the works for months. You
premise is flawed!

Why are you so critical?

"Been There" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> > Sure we still can't find bin Laden, but if Sears tries selling us vinyl
> siding
> > during dinner, by God we'll have their asses!
> >
> > Glad to know where our priorities are! ;-)
>
> Think about it - if there had been as much foreknowledge of 9-11 as there
> was DNC, 9-11 would have been different!
>
> DNC did NOT happen overnite. It has been in the works for months. You
> premise is flawed!

In the immortal words of Foghorn Leghorn, "that was a JOKE, Son..."

> Why are you so critical?

Well, since you asked...

I'm actually critical of the FCC stepping in as the last minute "heroes" of
this drama. The FCC was empowered by Congress to create a national
DNC list TWELVE years ago, but never bothered. Only when the FTC
did (without specific authority!) and got b*tch-slapped by the first
judge for it, did the FCC step in and take over. If the FCC had done
their job, we'd have had this done a decade ago.

Also, while telemarketing calls do bother me as much as the next guy,
I'd hardly say it's a pressing matter. (Particularly for me- I've been
on my state's no-call lists in the last two states I've lived in.) More
states have no-call lists than don't, so the national registry is
redundant for half of us.

Besides, Lord knows what real work the House and Senate brushed
aside to pass these "emergency" no-call bills, just to be good guys
while the story was in the news. Would it have killed us if they got
around to it in a week, or a month?