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Privacy: Do-not-call list thwarted again .......... |
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By Theresa Howard and Michael McCarthy,
USA TODAY
The fight between Congress and the courts over a national Do Not Call Registry has become mired in legal limbo, with consumers wondering Friday when promised relief from telemarketers will actually occur.
A judge's ruling Thursday threw the list back on the shelf less than an hour after Congress overrode a technical legal hurdle to the Federal Trade Commission-run list raised earlier by a judge in Oklahoma.
The latest ruling on First Amendment grounds by U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham in Denver may be harder to overcome because it will be settled in the courts, not Congress. The list was to take effect next Wednesday, a schedule that now appears unlikely.
The next step is to ... have an appeal heard as quickly as possible, says attorney Bill Heberer of Hall Dickler Kent Goldstein & Wood. But whatever kind of fast track they could get, I don't think it will be resolved by Wednesday.
Nottingham said in his ruling: The Federal Trade Commission has chosen to entangle itself too much in the consumers' decision by manipulating consumer choice and favoring speech by charitable (organizations) over commercial speech.
The registry, on which consumers have listed more than 50 million of their phone numbers since registration opened in June, bans calls to listed numbers from telemarketers, but exempts political or charitable groups.
The Denver judge said the distinction based on call content unconstitutionally trampled on telemarketers.
The industry's American Teleservices Association filed the lawsuit and has a similar action pending against the FCC, which is cooperating on the list.
ATA Executive Director Tim Searcy expressed hope late Thursday that the FTC would abandon the list. We hope the FTC will recognize the validity of the judge's opinion and work with the industry to craft voluntary policies that will be more appropriate.
But Deborah Thoren-Peden, a partner in law firm Pillsbury Winthrop, which specializes in telemarketing clients, said that the latest ruling is likely to delay the list, not kill it. It will cloud the do-not-call list for a little bit, she said. But given the interest in the public in having a list put into effect, it will prevail one way or another.
The Denver decision came as Congress answered Oklahoma U.S. District Judge Lee West's ruling this week that the FTC did not have a specific authority from Congress to run the list. He ruled in a lawsuit by the Direct Marketing Association and four telemarketers.
The House, by 412-8, and the Senate, by 95-0, on Thursday voted to clarify the FTC's authority and sent the bill to the White House, which had indicated its support. West, however, refused an FTC request to immediately lift his ruling.
Contributing: Wire reports
HOW TO SIGN UP ......but why??
Consumers can register online for the federal telemarketing do-not-call list at donotcall.gov. You must give an e-mail address to which a confirmation will be sent and can enter up to three phone numbers. The e-mail will contain a link that must be clicked on within 72 hours to complete sign-up.
People can register by phone at 888-382-1222. Consumers signing up by phone must call from the number they want to register.
Not voting in the House were:
Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), James Gibbons (R-Nev.), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), John Larson (D-Conn.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) and Curt Weldon (R-Pa).
Not voting in the Senate were:
Sens. John Edwards (D-N.C.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn).
oh, uh Jay?? Betcha can't fix this....
usatdy
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