I received some bad news. Then I received some more terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news: Two federal judges did a one-two chop on the do-not-call telemarketing registry set to begin Oct. 1.
The first bad news came as I sat at home watching Arnie and Arianna attempt a Comedy Central audition at the California gubernatorial debate; the Honorable U.S. District Judge Lee R. West blocked the implementation of the registry, saying the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its role by not having a congressional mandate to create the registry. The judge used a strange interpretation of the law that says the FTC has no authority to regulate telemarketers, but rather the Federal Communications Commission does.
Congress moved fast and on Thursday, granted the FTC the authority Judge West said the Commission needed to enact the registry.
But on Thursday night, during another, slightly less carnivalian televised presidential debate, I got the really bad news. A Denver federal judge struck down the newly constitutional registry again, this time saying that it violated the pesky calling corporations' right to free speech.
Are you kidding me??? That's what the founding fathers meant when they said free speech?
Hardly.
The do-not-call registry was possibly the greatest move the FTC ever made.
For those of you who have been living under a rock (or without a phone) for the last year, the do-not-call registry is a new service the FTC was about to provide as a virtual "no trespassing" sign to ward off telemarketers. Under the rules of the registry, people can register their phone number with the government, and if they receive any unsolicited telemarketing calls after Oct. 1, the offending company can be fined up to $11,000 per call.
The registry has proved to be a huge success before it has even gone into effect. As of this week, over 50 million people have signed up to be on the list. This registry is something that the telemarketing industry has lobbied heavily against, saying it will cost them over $50 billion per year in lost revenues. Big deal.
While I do not advocate lost revenues and jobs in any large industry, it is about time telemarketing was regulated.
How many unsolicited phone calls did you receive last week? Last night, I saw that AT&T alone called me 14 times last week. For those of you who haven't spoken with the company yet, now it is offering local phone service in your area. Woo-hoo. Each time they call, I am still very happy with my phone service and do not wish to change. Yet they don't stop.
I also receive about three calls a day to refinance my house.
I don't own my house. My landlord lives in San Diego. If she wants to refinance the house, she will most likely do it herself. Please leave me alone.
But the mother of all weekly calls I receive are the ones for David.
I am not David.
My roommates' names are Daniel and Kenton: also not David.
This whole David ordeal started about six months ago, when my roommate Daniel signed up for an Express credit card. Not having the neatest handwriting, they mistook his name for David. We now receive about three letters and nine phone calls a day for David. No matter how many times I try to tell the caller that David doesn't exist, the calls keep coming.
Since the calling registry has been blocked twice in court this week, my advice to you is this: If you have a weakness for signing up for random credit cards, DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER.
As far as free speech goes, I say this to telemarketers everywhere: Go for it, guys; say whatever you want, so long as it doesn't violate my right to privacy.
I have a certain expectation of privacy when I am in the confines of my own house. When I put up a no-trespassing sign in my yard, it stops door-to-door solicitors. So why should someone stop me from putting up a no-trespassing sign on my phone line?
Unsolicited phone calls have become a plague on the general public, and Congress has been quick to act. In the face of this new court ruling, let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that Congress can act quickly again to ensure that the do-not-call registry goes into effect Wednesday.
Through our congressional representatives, we must tell the telemarketers across America that we're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore.
Grant Klinzman is a journalism junior. Reach him at grant.klinzman@asu.edu.
