TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

House OKs Permanent Do-Not-Call

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: December 12, 2007

WASHINGTON - The House voted Tuesday to make permanent the program protecting people from telemarketer calls, relieving consumers from having to renew their participation in the do-not-call registry.

After Congress in 2003 created the do-not-call registry shielding millions of people from telemarketers' calls, the Federal Trade Commission wrote rules requiring consumers to reregister their phone numbers every five years.

The new legislation would eliminate that requirement by making the list permanent. At the same time, it requires the FTC to periodically remove numbers that have been disconnected and reassigned.

A second bill passed by the House makes permanent a system under which the FTC collects fees from telemarketers to operate the registry.

Some 146 million people have signed up for the list. "This might quite possibly be one of the most popular laws and government initiatives in our nation's history," said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C.

Both bills still need Senate approval.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT