Massachusetts Do-Not-Call Registry Unaffected By Federal Court Ruling
by Becky Evans
WASHINGTON – More than one million Massachusetts residents’ phone numbers will remain off-limits to telemarketers despite a federal judge’s ruling in Oklahoma City Tuesday that the Federal Trade Commission did not have authority to establish a national do-not-call registry, scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1.
Even as Congress rushed to pass legislation on Thursday to override the court’s decision, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs reassured residents that the ruling would have no impact on the state’s do-not-call program, which allows consumers to register their phone numbers to prohibit unsolicited calls from telemarketers.
“The long and short of it is that there will be no effect on the Massachusetts do-not-call program,” said Consumer Affairs spokeswoman Lizzie Lewis. “It will continue to operate in the same way regardless of the federal program.”
State Rep. Bill Straus (D-Mattapoisett) sponsored Massachusetts’ original do-not-call bill, which was signed into law Jan. 1. Since then, 1.6 million residents have registered by phone or on the Web for the “wildly popular” program, Lewis said.
“I am just overwhelmed by the amount of people who come up to me, write me letters and even call to say how grateful they are to be able to protect the privacy of their home,” Straus said. “Bar none, it is the single most popular thing that people tell me I have ever done as a representative.”
Days after the do-not-call registry became effective on April 1, Straus said the number of telemarketing calls to his home “fell off the cliff, essentially disappearing.”
“We still get a few calls,” he said. “But the numbers have so diminished that it accomplished just what we hoped it wouldáNow, every time you help your kids with their homework or try to eat dinner you are not interrupted by a phone call from someone trying to sell you something that you are not interested in buying.”
Straus said residents appreciate the restoration of “peace at home, where you expect to be in control of what you see and hear.”
Congress moved swiftly Thursday to make sure the national do-not-call list would be up and running Oct. 1 as planned. The House voted, 412-8, and the Senate voted, 95-0, for a bill granting the FTC specific authority to establish the list, which already has more than 50 million registered phone numbers. According to the legislation, telemarketers that call any of the numbers on the list risk fines of up to $11,000.
“I’ve heard from a couple of businesses in Massachusetts, Realtors in particular, who feel the federal regulation may go too far, but in general I think it is an important thing to do,” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who voted for the bill.
Straus said the purpose of the federal registry was to allow people in states that do not have their own do-not-call lists to have the same privacy protections as Massachusetts residents.
“When the federal rules go into effect, they will act as an extra Band-Aid or insurance for Massachusetts residents,” he said, noting that consumers who are registered in Massachusetts will automatically be placed on the national list.
Lewis called the federal court’s ruling a “hiccup” that was “too important an issue for the federal government not to address.
“I believe it will get figured out and the [national registry] will be great for Massachusetts consumers because they will have the added protection of the federal government.”
