Cell Phone Do not call

[jjenisis]

All Users >Subject: Cell Phones > > In a few weeks, cell phone numbers are
>being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive
>sales calls. Call this number from your cell phone 888-382-1222. It is the
>national Do Not Call List. It blocks your number for 5 years. > >Please pass
>this on. > > Have a nice day. >

you can also register at http://www.donotcall.gov

[darkvader]

This isn't entirely true. From About.com:


'Do Not Call' List for Cell Phone Users
Netlore Archive: Email flier warns that a directory of cell phone numbers will soon be published and urges users to enter their cell phone numbers on a federal 'do not call' list to prevent unsolicited calls from telemarketers

Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Sep. 2004
Status: Partly true
Analysis: See below


Variant #1:
Email example contributed by Gail E., 14 October 2004:

Cell Phone Directory:

A directory of cell phone numbers will be published soon. This opens the door to solicitors calling our cell phones using up our minutes. The Federal Trade Commission has set up a do not call list. You must call FROM the number you wish to register, or go to their website at http://www.donotcall.gov, to be included on the do not call list. The number is 1-888-382-1222.



Variant #2:
Email example contributed by Jason S., 2 December 2004:

For anyone that has a cell phone ....

In a few weeks, cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketing companies and you may start to receive sales calls. Call this number from your cell phone 888-382-1222. Doing so will add your cell phone number to the national "Do Not Call" list. It should block your number from telemarketing calls for 5 years.



Variant #3:
Email example contributed by Paul T., 9 December 2004:

Subject: Fwd: FW: Cell phone telemarketing

Thought you guys could use this information!!

PASS IT ON!!!

Starting Jan 1, 2005, all cell phone numbers will be made public to telemarketing firms. So this means as of Jan 1, your cell phone may start ringing off the hook with telemarketers, but unlike your home phone, most of you pay for your incoming calls. These telemarketers will eat up your free minutes and end up costing you money in the long run.

According to the National Do Not Call List, you have until Dec. 15th 2004 to get on the national "Do not call list" for cell phones. They said that you need to call 1-888-382-1222 from the cell phone that you wish to have put on the "do not call list" to be put on the list. They also said you can do it online at http://www.donotcall.gov

Registering only takes a minute, is in effect for 5 years and will possibly save you money (definitely frustration)! Make sure you register now!


Comments: While it's true that the major wireless phone providers (with the exception of Verizon) have announced their intention to establish a 411 directory of customers' cell phone numbers beginning in late 2005, it is not true that they plan to "publish" said directory for any and all to read. Participating companies say the numbers will be made available only with customer consent and only via telephone to users who dial directory assistance and pay a fee.

The companies swear the numbers will never be available to telemarketers.

Not everyone believes that, however, as evidenced by a privacy protection bill already introduced in Congress which would modify the plan to allow 411 callers to be directly connected to requested parties without the latter's phone numbers being given out.

Per FCC regulations, telemarketers are already prohibited from calling cell phone numbers using automated dialers, which are standard in the industry.

Dec. 15th 'deadline' is bogus

In any case, the Federal Trade Commission does allow cell phone users to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry — the same one already in force for landlines — either on the Web or by calling 1-888-382-1222.

Contrary to what some variants of the email rumor claim, there is no December 15, 2004 deadline for adding cell phone numbers to the list — indeed, there is no deadline whatsoever.

[Zeo]

The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) proposed a directory a while back, but it is not mandatory that wireless service providers participate in a mobile directory for their customers.

I work for U.S. Cellular, and we have a policy against revealing customer phone numbers to anyone, specifically to protect customers from telemarketing calls and unwanted messages.

So, while the wireless industry believes a wireless directory will not be used by telemarketers, our customers do not want a directory, and U.S. Cellular will not participate in it.

Of course if you give your mobile number along with other contact info out to certain entities they may sell your information along with the cellular phone number to telemarketing companies.

Any customer can, of course, register any number -- cellular or landline -- with the Federal Do Not Call Registry at 1-888-382-1222 or on the Web at http://www.donotcall.gov if they choose to.

[darkvader]

Also, from the Direct Marketing Association:

Unsolicited Marketing Calls to Cell Phones are Illegal - With or Without a Cell Phone Directory

December 10, 2004 -- The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) today issued a statement aimed at consumers, legislators, and regulators to alert them that a bogus e-mail is causing anxiety about new proposed cell phone number directories.

An urban myth in the making has been churned up by e-mails circulating widely across the United States saying that proposed directories of cell phone numbers are being compiled for use by telemarketers.

Although there may be efforts to compile cell phone directories by phone companies, such directories MAY NOT BE USED FOR UNSOLICITED TELEPHONE MARKETING CALLS, because a 1991 federal law prohibits that.

This law, the 1991 Telemarketing Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), makes it illegal for solicitation calls to be made to wireless phone numbers without clear permission from the individual to whom a number has been assigned.

The DMA and its members continue to support vigorous enforcement of the absolute restriction on unsolicited calls to cell phone numbers for marketing purposes and urge federal and state authorities to prosecute those who may engage in this illegal activity.

Moreover, The DMA continues to work aggressively with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect against cell phone solicitations by ensuring that marketers understand and comply fully with the law.

In this regard, The DMA has instituted the following programs designed specifically to prevent even inadvertent unsolicited telemarketing calls to cell phones:

* The Wireless Block Identifier Service identifies for the marketing community those numbers that have been assigned as cell phone numbers - numbers they may not call without express permission from the holder of a number; and

* The Wireless Ported Number File identifies land-based phone numbers that have been ported to cell phone numbers -- new numbers which also fall under the protections of the 1991 law.

[Sir Diddimus]

I've only had one telemarking call on my cell phone....

I could hear the wind from them hanging up so fast when I said, "this is my cell phone, and you are wasting my min....." They were gone that fast. LOL

[jjenisis]

jeez I was just trying to pass on the number in case anyone needed it.