DMA Statement Re: Accelerated Roll-Out Of Ftc Do-Not- Call List

NEW YORK, June 3, 2003 – The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) today expressed disappointment that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) acted prematurely in accelerating the roll-out of its do-not-call list.

The DMA favors a universal do-not-call registry, that includes all state lists, thereby creating a one-stop shop for both consumers and marketers. Such a list could be created by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which unlike the FTC has jurisdiction over virtually all industries that solicit by phone. The FCC is expected to rule this month on such a proposal.

By accelerating the do-not-call list roll-out, the FTC today jumped the gun and opened the door to potential federal bureaucratic duplication that could lead to marketer and consumer confusion.

Such action does a disservice both to consumers and marketers because:

It is not as universal in coverage as the FTC has led consumers to believe. The current list would not cover high-volume users of telephone marketing such as banks, telecommunications common carriers, insurance companies, stockbrokers, credit card companies, nonprofit entities, and others.

Consumer education prior to the roll-out of the list is essential in ensuring that the list will live up to consumer expectations.

The FTC registry creates disincentives for national marketers to comply with the new list by charging more than 10 times the amount of The DMA’s comparable national do-not-call list.

The FTC list presents serious authentication issues. The current proposal has no way of ensuring that the person who signs up for the list via the Web is, in fact, the person whose phone number is being registered.

The FTC list does not incorporate the do-not-call lists already passed at the state level, unlike what we believe an FCC list would be required to do.

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