Predictable, I suppose

[unixronin]

The telemarketing industry's response to the 'Do Not Call' list appears to be a new generation of robot callers that call and leave a message telling you to call some other number to take up whatever scam it is they're hawking.  I suppose the idea is that this way, there's no human on the line whom you can tell to take your number off the list and never call again, and if you want to get a number to call and tell them, you've got to sit through their spiel first, and they figure most people won't bother.  I also wonder if there's some kind of plausible-deniability ploy involved -- perhaps the calling robots are located somewhere offshore and beyond US legal jurisdiction.  Either way, it's pretty clearly an organized and intentional attempt to circumvent the Do Not Call list.

Screw this do-not-call half-measure.  I say we just make telemarketing illegal, period.

In the meantime, the following is excerpted from the Do Not Call Registry FAQ:

37. When can I file a do not call complaint?

If your number has been on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least 31 days (starting January 1, 2005) and you receive a call from a telemarketer that you believe is covered by the National Do Not Call Registry, you can file a complaint at the registry’s website at www.donotcall.gov or by calling the registry’s toll-free number at 1-888-382-1222 (for TTY, call 1-866-290-4236). To file a complaint, you must know either the name or telephone number of the company that called you, and the date the company called you.

38. How do I file a do not call complaint? What do I need to file a complaint?

You can file your complaint on the registry’s website, www.donotcall.gov, using the File a Complaint page. You must know either the name or the phone number of the company that called you. You also must provide the date that the company called you and your registered phone number. You may provide your name and address, but it’s not required for you to submit a complaint. You also may call the registry’s toll-free number at (1-888-382-1222) to file a complaint (for TTY, call 1-866-290-4236).

Comments

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised it took them this long....

[jilara.livejournal.com]

That probably explains all the hang-ups on my answering machine message, lately. And that I'm getting partial messages with a phone number to call at the end (obviously a robot). Their robot can talk to mine.

But there are now increasing numbers of real people calling, as well. They usually have foreign accents. I wonder if there's an enforcement loophole with calls originating in, say, India.

[elegantelbow.livejournal.com]

I say we just make telemarketing illegal, period.

Because anti-spamming laws have been so effective?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The reason a lot of this crap is so ineffective is because our dearly beloved legislators take so much money from the advertising industry to put so many damned loopholes into the laws.

From a technical standpoint, it's a different problem, too. The big difference between telemarketing and spamming is you can spam from anywhere in the world at no extra cost, but telemarketing from -- say -- India, with international long-distance charges, is unlikely to be cost-effective. Plus, you can block your caller ID, but you can't forge it anywhere nearly as trivially as you can forge an email address. And there's no massive networks of zombified Windows telephones (yet) to relay the crap through, so you can't do that either.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD! VOIP + EXPLODER.

Yuck.

-Ogre

[dirtynumbangel.livejournal.com]

Or just some oversight body for the telemarketing industry ensuring truth in the pitch.

Yes, unwieldy... but some telemarketing is legit. Why punish the (few) good guys?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, personally, I think telemarketing is an invasion of my privacy in the first place. Why the hell should I have to drop what I'm doing in the privacy of my own home, be it a meal, a movie, a good book, or working from home, just to listen to some drone try to sell me something I'm not interested in buying? Trying to sell me crap I don't want wastes both my time and theirs, and pisses me off by interrupting what I was doing.

If I want to buy something, I'll go looking for it, thanks. And if Company A and Company B both put $100 into their product, but company A blew $40 on marketing and advertising while Company B put almost the whole $100 into designing a better product, the odds are I'm gonna buy from Company B. I personally think there is far, far too much advertising in the US -- once again, the tail is wagging the dog.