In a report filed yesterday morning, the FTC said the "Do Not Call" list is "by every available measure, an effective consumer protection initiative."
As of September 2007, the FTC had 145,498,656 telephone numbers on the National Registry, filed 25 cases alleging violations of the National Registry, and had reached settlements in 22 of these cases. In 13 of the resolved cases, defendants paid civil penalties totaling more than $8.7 million. In the remaining resolved cases, defendants paid redress and/or disgorgement for other violations, totaling more than $8.4 million.
A recent independent survey conducted in October 2007 by Harris Interactive found that of the 72% of Americans who had registered their telephone numbers for the “Do-Not-Call Registry,” 18% reported that they currently received no telemarketing calls, 59% reported that they still received some, but far fewer than before they signed onto the Registry, and 14% said they received some, but a little less than before they registered.
In 2007, a total of 6,242 entities paid fees totaling $21,602,003 for access to the National Registry. The total amount of fees paid by all entities since the inception of the National Registry through the end of 2007 is $80,629,778.
"The Commission believes that the fundamental goal of the National Registry -- to provide consumers with a simple, free, and effective means to limit unwanted telemarketing calls -- has been achieved," the report states. The Commission has called for the 145 million telephone numbers in the database to be registered permanently, rather than limited to five years as was previously proposed.
