The History of the Do Not Call Registry
The National Do Not Call Registry in the United States is managed by the Federal Trade Commission, commonly referred to as the FTC. The federal law went into enforcement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and individual states on Oct. 1, 2003.
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Features
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The Do Not Call Registry allows citizens to choose not to receive marketing calls at home or on cellular devices, and goes into effect within 31 days of registration. Effective on Jan. 1, 2005, telemarketers additionally became required to purge their lists against the registry at least every 31 days.
Procedures
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There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Do Not Call Registry. Consumers can register online at www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236) from the number they wish to register. It is a toll-free number and registration is free. Any telemarketer who continues to call numbers that are on the National Do Not Call Registry could be fined up to $16,000 for every call that they make. Consumers can report violations via the FCC website.
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Enhancements
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In order to improve the accuracy of the Do Not Call List, Congress passed the Do Not Call Improvement Act of 2007 on Feb. 15, 2008. It requires the FCC to periodically check for numbers that have been discontinued or reassigned.
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References
Resources
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