Has your evening or weekend been disrupted by a call from a telemarketer? If so, you’re not alone. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been receiving complaints in increasing numbers from consumers throughout the nation about unwanted and uninvited calls to their homes from telemarketers.
Recently, pursuant to its broad authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the FCC established a national Do-Not-Call Registry. The registry is nationwide in scope, applies to all telemarketers (with the exception of certain non-profit organizations), and covers both interstate and intrastate telemarketing calls. Commercial telemarketers are not allowed to call you if your number is on the registry. As a result, consumers can, if they choose, reduce the number of unwanted phone calls to their homes.
Do-Not-Call Registry
You can register your phone number for free, and it will remain on the national do-not-call list for five years. You may re-enter your number onto the list when the five years have passed, and you may remove your name from the list at any time.
The Do-Not-Call registry will not prevent all unwanted calls. It will not cover the following:
calls from organizations with which you have established a business relationship;
calls for which you have given prior written consent;
calls which are not commercial or do not include unsolicited advertisements;
calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit organizations.
How to Register
Consumers can register on-line for the national do-not-call registry beginning June 27, 2003. Telephone registration will open for consumers in states west of the Mississippi River - including Minnesota and Louisiana - on the same date. Telephone registration will be available July 7 in the entire country. To register, consumers may call 1-888-382-1222: for TTY call 1-866-290-4236. You must call from the phone number you wish to register. The registry will become effective on October 1, 2003. Subscribers may register their residential telephone number, including wireless numbers, on the national Do-Not-Call registry by telephone or by Internet at no cost. The federal Do-Not-Call registry will be effective October 1, 2003.
Related Rules
In addition to the establishment of a national Do-Not-Call Registry, there are other amendments to the Commission's rules implementing the TCPA that may reduce the number of telemarketing calls to your home when they become effective:
If you subscribe to CALLER ID, you will know when a telemarketer is calling you: telemarketers will be required to transmit Caller ID information and may not block their numbers.
Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A call will be considered "abandoned" if it is not transferred to a live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient's greeting. As a result, you may less likely run to answer the phone only to find silence or the "click" of the calling party disconnecting the line.
In addition to these changes the rules currently provide: Telephone solicitation calls to your home before 8 am or after 9 pm are prohibited.
Anyone making a telephone solicitation call to your home must provide his/her name, the name of the entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which you may contact that entity.
Company-specific do-not-call lists are available to consumers who wish to avoid telemarketing calls only from specific companies. For more information see our Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls Factsheet
How to Complain
Once the Registry becomes effective October 1, 2003, if you receive an unwanted telemarketing call and you have requested your telephone number on the Registry, you can file a complaint by either e-mail (fccinfo@fcc.gov), the Internet, telephone 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY, or mail.
Your complaint letter should include:
name, address, and telephone number where you can be reached during the business day;
the telephone number involved with the complaint; and
as much specific information about the complaint as possible, including the identity of the telemarketer or company contacting you;
If mailing in a complaint, send it to:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaint Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
For general information, you may contact the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau in the following ways:
Via Internet at www.fcc.gov/cgb
Consumer Center, Voice: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) and
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) For this or any other consumer publication in an alternative format (electronic ASCII text, Braille, large print, or audio) please write or call us at the address or phone number below, or send an e-mail to FCC504@fcc.gov.
Looking For More Information?
You can contact the FCC at:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) VOICE
1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY
E-Mail : fccinfo@fcc.gov
Major Telemarketing Orders and Notices
Remarks of K. Dane Snowden to Direct Marketing Association, Teleservices Conference in Miami, Florida, "Striking The Proper Balance"
Dates Set for Comments on Do-Not-Call Implementation Act as Part of Telemarketing Proceeding
News Release: Word | Acrobat
Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Dkt No. 02-278
Word | Acrobat
Statement by K. Dane Snowden, Chief, CGB, on the Commission's Review of its Telemarketing Rules
News Release: Word | Acrobat
CGB Announces an Extension of Time to File Reply Comments on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) Rules, DA No. 02-3554, Dkt No 02-278. Comments Due: 1/31/2003 Word | Acrobat
CGB announces dates for filing comments and reply comments on the Telephone Consumer Protection (TCPA) rules News Release | Public Notice
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, FCC 02-250 Acrobat
Order on Further Reconsideration, Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, FCC 97-117
Memorandum Opinion and Order, Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, FCC 95-310
Report and Order, Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, FCC 92-443 Pages 1 to 25 | Pages 26 to 43
'''April 19, 2005''' 

The FCC issued a consumer advisory on April 15 in response to a recent flurry of e-mails claiming cell phone users will soon have their phones  assaulted by telemarketers. In a paper titled    The Truth about Cell Phones and the National Do Not Call Registry, the FCC reasserted that it is prohibited for telemarketers to use automated dialers to contact U.S. cell phones.

The paper notes the federal government itself does not maintain a national cell phone registry. Users of the do-not-call registry can, if they choose to, add cell numbers in addition to their traditional land-line listings. Up to three numbers per e-mail address can be added if done on-line.

The much anticipated do-not-call registry went live in October 2003. The registry has, in the FCC’s own words, been an “overwhelmingly popular initiative.” It serves as an option for consumers to stop unwanted telemarketing calls and currently contains over 80 million subscribers.

Additionally, in an FCC change to the registry guidelines effective January 2005, telemarketers are now required to update their call lists against the registry once each month. Previously, the update requirement was once every 3 months. Newer regulations also require marketers to unblock their numbers so users of caller ID will know when a telemarketer calls.

The U.S. contact information is 1-888-382-1222 by phone, or https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx by Internet, and registry to the do-not-call list is free.