The Federal Trade Commission could soon begin offering people the option of blocking telemarketers under a system similar to Oregon’s.
Oregon is one of 25 states with no-call legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and under the legislation residents can call the Department of Justice and place their home numbers on a list off-limits to telemarketers.
“Oregon has one of the best no-call policies in the country,” DOJ spokeswoman Jan Margosian said. “We will participate in FTC’s creation of the list and tell them what worked for us.”
Representatives from the Oregon Department of Justice will aid in creating the regulations, which could be ready as early as this summer, Margosian said.
Under the proposed registry, FTC could fine telemarketing companies $11,000 for calling people on the list.
“If consumers don’t want to be called, they should have a way to avoid those calls,” said Howard Beales, FTC’s director of consumer protection.
Some in the telemarketing industry have raised concerns about the FTC’s no-call proposal. Jim Conway, a spokesman for the Direct Marketing Association, said adding a national no-call list to state lists would create more hassle, paperwork and confusion. He said the industry generates $660 billion annually, and that a national no-call list would cost the industry billions. He said most national and regional telemarketing businesses have membership with DMA, and the association maintains its own no-call list.
He admitted, however, that because not all telemarketers have joined DMA, not all are subject to the association’s no-call list.
All companies conducting business in Oregon are subject to the state’s no-call law, which Oregon’s DOJ created in 1999. The attorney general’s office distributes the no-call list to companies conducting business in Oregon, and if a telemarketer contacts a person on the list, DOJ can fine the company up to $25,000.
“The law is working wonderfully,” Margosian said. “It’s protecting people from being called at inconvenient times by people they don’t want to deal with.”
No-call list registration for one year costs $6.50. Renewals cost $3, and the state updates the list each month.
The no-call law includes exemptions for charities, opinion surveys unrelated to marketing, businesses from which a person has previously made purchases and telemarketers who a resident has requested call the residence.
People not on the list can also stop telemarketers from making follow-up calls. If a person tells a telemarketer to not call again, the company cannot legally make another call to the residence.
“People who aren’t interested should immediately say, ‘Do not call me again, and put my name on your do not call list,’” Margosian said. “If they’re told not to call back, the business should never call again.”
Oregon and federal laws require telemarketers to identify their company, their product and its cost, as well as ask if the person contacted is interested within the first 30 seconds of the call. A person must request the company not call the number again in those 30 seconds.
Oregon maintains its no-call list in conjunction with OTA Services of Salem, a company that handles list-serve operations. Residents can add their name to the no-call list by calling toll-free 1-877-700-6622 or visiting www.ornocall.com.