Cell phone numbers will not be given to telemarketers
Kate Stickelmaier
Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: News
More Americans than ever are choosing to add their land-line telephone numbers to the federal government's Do Not Call Registry's list in order to avoid receiving unwanted calls from telemarketers.
However, those carrying cellular phones can rest assured as well.
Despite an ever-present, re-circling e-mail, which has advised cell phone users to register their numbers before that information is released to telemarketing companies, no such action is necessary.
According to Mitchell Katz, Federal Trade Commission spokesperson, cell phone numbers will not be sold to telemarketers anytime soon.
"Telemarketers are prohibited by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) from calling you on your cell phone," Katz said.
According to Katz, the e-mail has been in circulation since 2005.
"It's not urgent, the e-mail has been going around for more than two years," Katz said.
Katz advises those who receive the e-mail to refrain from forwarding it by deleting it. While the possibility of telemarketers who break the law by contacting via cell phone still exists, people must confirm their willingness to receive such calls.
"It's especially a problem because you're paying for the calls," Katz said, "We are working on banning all pre-recorded telemarketing calls."
This same effort also rings true with those telemarketers who call dorm room phones at colleges.
"A person from the Tribune [called] and I tried to hang up and they wouldn't let me hang up," Cara Suggs, a freshman journalism major, said of one of her numerous experiences with live telemarketers who have called her dorm room phone at ISU this year.
While students cannot register the phone numbers in their rooms because they are not a permanent resident, Katz recommends that students save the number along with the time the call was received and report the incident to the FCC.
"I would suggest filing a complaint on the company specific Do Not Call Registry," Katz said, "[However] no one is going to stop you from registering with the DNC."
According to Suggs, she considers telemarketers a nuisance and if there was a way to register her dorm phone with the DNC, she would.
The amount of phone numbers included on the DNC Registry has surpassed 139 million according to a February 6, 2007 FTC report.
Despite the fact that the industry has discussed the possibility of a wireless 411 directory, most telemarketing calls to cell phones would still be illegal, regardless of whether the number is listed on the federal government's National DNC Registry, according to the FCC.
For more information, visit the Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov.
However, those carrying cellular phones can rest assured as well.
Despite an ever-present, re-circling e-mail, which has advised cell phone users to register their numbers before that information is released to telemarketing companies, no such action is necessary.
According to Mitchell Katz, Federal Trade Commission spokesperson, cell phone numbers will not be sold to telemarketers anytime soon.
"Telemarketers are prohibited by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) from calling you on your cell phone," Katz said.
According to Katz, the e-mail has been in circulation since 2005.
"It's not urgent, the e-mail has been going around for more than two years," Katz said.
Katz advises those who receive the e-mail to refrain from forwarding it by deleting it. While the possibility of telemarketers who break the law by contacting via cell phone still exists, people must confirm their willingness to receive such calls.
"It's especially a problem because you're paying for the calls," Katz said, "We are working on banning all pre-recorded telemarketing calls."
This same effort also rings true with those telemarketers who call dorm room phones at colleges.
"A person from the Tribune [called] and I tried to hang up and they wouldn't let me hang up," Cara Suggs, a freshman journalism major, said of one of her numerous experiences with live telemarketers who have called her dorm room phone at ISU this year.
While students cannot register the phone numbers in their rooms because they are not a permanent resident, Katz recommends that students save the number along with the time the call was received and report the incident to the FCC.
"I would suggest filing a complaint on the company specific Do Not Call Registry," Katz said, "[However] no one is going to stop you from registering with the DNC."
According to Suggs, she considers telemarketers a nuisance and if there was a way to register her dorm phone with the DNC, she would.
The amount of phone numbers included on the DNC Registry has surpassed 139 million according to a February 6, 2007 FTC report.
Despite the fact that the industry has discussed the possibility of a wireless 411 directory, most telemarketing calls to cell phones would still be illegal, regardless of whether the number is listed on the federal government's National DNC Registry, according to the FCC.
For more information, visit the Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov.
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