think we Pennsylvanians will all want to do this. Today's article from the Post-gazette.
State debuts its 'do-not-call' list
The aim is to provide protection from those pesky
telemarketers
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG -- Linda Och of Knoxville was thrilled
yesterday to put her
name on the new statewide "do not call" list.
It means that she no longer has to screen her telephone
calls to avoid those
annoying telemarketers.
She had been getting as many as 30 calls a day. One came
on Christmas Eve.
She said a phone salesman lured her into a credit card
scam that cost her
$400.
Never again.
"We're all victims of telemarketers, I think," she said as
she registered her
phone number on the do-not-call list. "This is the best
thing since sliced bread.
I'm thrilled."
The list was authorized by the Pennsylvania Legislature in
the spring and
signed into law by Gov. Mark Schweiker. Registration began
during a news
conference held by state Attorney General Mike Fisher, the
Republican
candidate for governor, whose office will administer the
list.
You can register at the Web site www.nocallsplease.com or
by calling
toll-free 1-888-777-3406.
The process is easy. For Och, it took 30 seconds yesterday
as the news
media looked on.
To register, a caller is asked to give his name, address,
ZIP code and phone
number. The hot line is fully automated, and is open
around the clock. A
phone number will remain on the do-not-call list for five
years.
The hot line, however, may be busy for a while, as a large
volume of callers is
expected. Try back later, Fisher suggested, noting that
Colorado registered
100,000 people on the first day of registration for its
do-not-call list.
The state's registration hot line is set up to handle
1,000 calls per hour. The
Web site can handle 12,000 per hour.
Pennsylvania's list will be compiled by Sept. 15 and given
to Direct Marketing
Association of New York for distribution to all
telemarketers in the country.
Each company will pay $465 a year for the list, which will
be updated
quarterly. Direct Marketing Association is a nonprofit
firm that is not charging
the state to compile the list.
Telemarketers will be expected to abide by the do-not-call
list as of Nov. 1.
After that, if a telemarketer calls someone whose phone
number is on the list,
Fisher said he will prosecute. Fines could range from
$1,000 per illegal call to
$3,000 if the recipient is 60 or older.
Repeat violators can be banned from doing business at all
in Pennsylvania.
The law prohibits telemarketers from intentionally
blocking consumers' caller
identification. Fisher said anyone who receives an illegal
call should notify his
Bureau of Consumer Protection with the identification of
the telemarketing
firm. If that is unknown, Fisher said, the attorney
general's staff can obtain that
information through investigation.
"Today, Pennsylvanians have the power to hang a
'do-not-disturb' sign on
their telephones and reclaim a piece of their privacy that
has been relentlessly
invaded by telemarketers," he said. "My job as attorney
general will be to
enforce this law and to prosecute any telemarketing
company that fails to
comply with your newly obtained right not to be bothered
at home."
Fisher has been working on legislation to create a
do-not-call list since 1996,
when he was a state senator.
He, too, has been bothered by telemarketers. One call, six
to eight years ago,
stuck in Fisher's memory, he said. It came at 9:30 a.m. on
a Christmas Day.
"You can imagine what I told him," Fisher said.
His wife, Carol, said she put their home number on the
do-not-call list
yesterday.
But politicians in search of votes, such as gubernatorial
candidate Fisher,
remain free to dial people at home.
Fisher said the do-not-call list will not apply to
political parties or candidates.
He said he would not promise that his campaign will forego
the use of
telemarketing firms.
Politics also plays a part in the registration process.
Callers who register by phone may notice that the
automated greeting
announces that they have reached "Attorney General Mike
Fisher's
do-not-call list."
State debuts its 'do-not-call' list
The aim is to provide protection from those pesky
telemarketers
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG -- Linda Och of Knoxville was thrilled
yesterday to put her
name on the new statewide "do not call" list.
It means that she no longer has to screen her telephone
calls to avoid those
annoying telemarketers.
She had been getting as many as 30 calls a day. One came
on Christmas Eve.
She said a phone salesman lured her into a credit card
scam that cost her
$400.
Never again.
"We're all victims of telemarketers, I think," she said as
she registered her
phone number on the do-not-call list. "This is the best
thing since sliced bread.
I'm thrilled."
The list was authorized by the Pennsylvania Legislature in
the spring and
signed into law by Gov. Mark Schweiker. Registration began
during a news
conference held by state Attorney General Mike Fisher, the
Republican
candidate for governor, whose office will administer the
list.
You can register at the Web site www.nocallsplease.com or
by calling
toll-free 1-888-777-3406.
The process is easy. For Och, it took 30 seconds yesterday
as the news
media looked on.
To register, a caller is asked to give his name, address,
ZIP code and phone
number. The hot line is fully automated, and is open
around the clock. A
phone number will remain on the do-not-call list for five
years.
The hot line, however, may be busy for a while, as a large
volume of callers is
expected. Try back later, Fisher suggested, noting that
Colorado registered
100,000 people on the first day of registration for its
do-not-call list.
The state's registration hot line is set up to handle
1,000 calls per hour. The
Web site can handle 12,000 per hour.
Pennsylvania's list will be compiled by Sept. 15 and given
to Direct Marketing
Association of New York for distribution to all
telemarketers in the country.
Each company will pay $465 a year for the list, which will
be updated
quarterly. Direct Marketing Association is a nonprofit
firm that is not charging
the state to compile the list.
Telemarketers will be expected to abide by the do-not-call
list as of Nov. 1.
After that, if a telemarketer calls someone whose phone
number is on the list,
Fisher said he will prosecute. Fines could range from
$1,000 per illegal call to
$3,000 if the recipient is 60 or older.
Repeat violators can be banned from doing business at all
in Pennsylvania.
The law prohibits telemarketers from intentionally
blocking consumers' caller
identification. Fisher said anyone who receives an illegal
call should notify his
Bureau of Consumer Protection with the identification of
the telemarketing
firm. If that is unknown, Fisher said, the attorney
general's staff can obtain that
information through investigation.
"Today, Pennsylvanians have the power to hang a
'do-not-disturb' sign on
their telephones and reclaim a piece of their privacy that
has been relentlessly
invaded by telemarketers," he said. "My job as attorney
general will be to
enforce this law and to prosecute any telemarketing
company that fails to
comply with your newly obtained right not to be bothered
at home."
Fisher has been working on legislation to create a
do-not-call list since 1996,
when he was a state senator.
He, too, has been bothered by telemarketers. One call, six
to eight years ago,
stuck in Fisher's memory, he said. It came at 9:30 a.m. on
a Christmas Day.
"You can imagine what I told him," Fisher said.
His wife, Carol, said she put their home number on the
do-not-call list
yesterday.
But politicians in search of votes, such as gubernatorial
candidate Fisher,
remain free to dial people at home.
Fisher said the do-not-call list will not apply to
political parties or candidates.
He said he would not promise that his campaign will forego
the use of
telemarketing firms.
Politics also plays a part in the registration process.
Callers who register by phone may notice that the
automated greeting
announces that they have reached "Attorney General Mike
Fisher's
do-not-call list."