Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Every month I pay the phone company $2 to keep my phone number unlisted and my name out of the phone book.
If I call someone, my phone number comes up private or unlisted on their caller ID machines.
I figure the $2 is a small price to pay for the benefits I get from being unlisted. I don't think I should have to pay anything for it, really, but they charge me anyhow and I pay the fee tacked onto my phone bill.
All the people I want to call me, or who need to call me, know my phone number or know where they can get it. Those people I gave my phone number to - I chose to give them my phone number.
But somehow, some way, those pesky, annoying telemarketers - whom I never willingly gave my home phone number to - get my private, unlisted number. And they call, and call and call some more.
There's one phone company in particular that likes to call me every day at 5 p.m. and they want me to switch from my current provider to them. And I keep hanging up on them as soon as they say their company name. You'd think they'd get the hint by now, wouldn't you?
So this year when the "Do Not Call" registry began at the national level, I logged on to the Internet and signed up on the very first day. I don't need to have telemarketers call me - I won't buy anything over the phone and I don't donate money or pledge to donate money over the phone, either.
It's just not going to happen.
The do-not-call registry was supposed to kick in next week. And then those telemarketers - who continuously call me despite me repeatedly slamming the phone on them - would have to legally leave me alone or face a $11,000 fine.
This week though, that registry was put in legal limbo by two judges, despite attempts by the House and Senate to keep it afloat.
U.S. District Judge Lee R. West ruled Tuesday that the Federal Trade Commission lacked authority to create and operate the registry, according to an Associated Press story.
However, The House approved legislation Thursday aimed at ensuring the national do-not-call list goes into effect as scheduled so consumers can block many unwanted telemarketing sales pitches. The Senate and Bush were expected to go with it.
Of course, there are some exemptions built into the do-not-call rules. And that's where the second judge put the list into limbo.
Charities still can solicit as well as pollsters and telemarketers on behalf of politicians under the do-not-call registry guidelines. The second judge ruled that allowing some commercial calls and not others is a violation of free speech based on content. The judge said it's an all-or-nothing situation - don't allow any telemarketers (including charities) or allow all.
Again, I don't pledge to donate any money via phone so I say don't allow any. Besides, being called at inappropriate times is not a good way to get me to give my earned income away. Of course, the charity issue will make it harder for some politicians to just go ahead and make that decision to not allow any telemarketers, understandably.
But I hope they do it anyhow.
A non-legal reason the do-not-call list is being fought is because of jobs.
According to the AP story, telemarketers say the list would devastate their industry and lead to the loss of thousands of jobs. I am sympathetic to those people who may lose their jobs if that turns out to be true. But I, not the telemarketers, pay for my phone service. Why should they be able to call me if I have made it clear I don't want to hear sales pitches? Again, I'm paying for my phone and services, not them. If they want to call me whenever they want and try to get me to buy their products, they can pay part of my phone bill.
Unsolicited phone calls are pretty much like the gobs of spam I get on my e-mail - I don't want it, I don't pay attention to it.
According to the AP story, since the FTC opened the do-not-call list for registration in June, people have submitted 31.1 million phone numbers at the Web site www.donotcall.gov and 10.9 million by calling toll-free at 888-382-1222. An additional 8.6 million numbers were transferred from existing state lists.
Those numbers alone should tell telemarketers that their calls are unwanted.
There are about 166 million residential phone numbers in the United States and an additional 150 million cell phone numbers.
In time, I think that 50 million figure would eventually get closer to the full 316 million if the politicians can find a way to allow the list without violating the Constitution's guarantee of free speech to the pesky, annoying telemarketers.
Until a solution is found, I will continue to slam the phone on telemarketers who call me while I'm sleeping, eating or on the Internet.
