For Release:
August 6, 2003
Do Not Call Registry
Tops 30 Million Phone Numbers
California, Florida, and Texas
Lead in State Registrations
During the five weeks since it opened on
June 27, consumers have registered more than 30 million telephone
numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry: nearly 24 million,
or 80 percent of those registrations have been made over the
Internet and six million, or 20 percent have been made via
the telephone. California leads with the greatest number of
state registrations, 3.4 million, followed by Florida with
2.2 million, and Texas with two million. The attached
chart lists the total registrations for each
state as of August 4, 2003.
“Millions of consumers registered
their telephone numbers successfully within the first few
days of the opening of the Registry,” said Timothy J.
Muris, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, “and
hundreds of thousands of numbers still are being entered every
day. We want to do everything we can to make certain that
consumer expectations about the Registry are met.”
The Do Not Call Internet registration is
a two-step process that requires consumers to enter the phone
number they want to register and then confirm their registration
by clicking on a link in an e-mail.
“People must click on the link in
the email from Register@donotcall.gov
to confirm their registration,” Muris said. “Without
clicking on the e-mail confirmation, the registration doesn’t
get logged into the database. We know that some people haven’t
completed the process, and we’re suggesting that they
go back to the site, verify their registration, and print
out their confirmation. That way, when enforcement begins
on October 1, they can be sure that the number of telemarketing
calls they get will be cut dramatically.”
The FTC advises that all consumers who
registered at donotcall.gov,
and who do not remember clicking on a link in an e-mail they
received from the site, to return to the National Registry
and verify whether their number is registered. Consumers may
verify their numbers either on the Internet at donotcall.gov,
or by using the toll-free number: 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236).
When using the telephone, consumers must be calling from the
number they want to verify.
Additionally, the FTC reminds consumers
that the Registry will become available to telemarketers as
of September 1 and compliance with the list is required as
of October 1. At that point, consumers who registered their
telephone numbers prior to August 31, 2003 should experience
a reduction in unwanted telemarketing calls.
Consumers whose numbers are on the National
Do Not Call Registry may continue to receive calls after
October 1 from businesses with which they have an established
business relationship, which lasts for 18 months from a consumer’s
last purchase from or payment to a company, or 3 months from
a consumer’s inquiry or application to a company. A
consumer can request to be placed on the entity-specific
do-not-call list of any business, even one with which it
has an established business relationship, and this request
must be honored. Charitable solicitations, political calls
and survey calls are not covered by the National Do Not Call
Registry provision, but for-profit telefunders making charitable
solicitation calls are required to honor consumer’s
entity-specific do-not-call requests.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cathy MacFarlane
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2710
(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/08/dncnumbers.htm)
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Related
Documents:
Do
Not Call Chart of Total Registrations for Each State as
of August 4, 2003
Consumer Information:
National Do Not Call Registry
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