THE DMA CALLS ON INDUSTRY TO RESPECT CONSUMERS WISHES ON NATIONAL DO-NOT-CALL LIST
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 25, 2003 – The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) is asking all of its members and the entire telemarketing industry to respect the wishes of consumers who have registered for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry, even though a recent federal court ruling appears to have put mandatory compliance with the list into question.
"In spite of any changes that might result from the federal court’s recent ruling, and whether or not there continues to be a government-administered national no-call list, it is appropriate for marketers to respect the wishes of consumers who have placed their phone numbers on the FTC’s list," said H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO, The DMA.
The DMA believes the judge ruled correctly on Tuesday that the FTC did not have the necessary authority to create a do-not-call registry.
In addition, The DMA continues to have serious concerns about the National Do Not Call Registry as currently implemented by the FTC, especially in regards to:
- How it relates to the patchwork of state lists, thereby not acting as a one-stop shop for consumers and marketers; and
- The compromising of the national list brought about by a lack of proper authentication procedures built into the Internet registration process. This results in people being able to register numbers, whether or not, in fact, they are the telephone number’s subscriber.
The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $2 trillion in 2002, including $126 billion in catalog sales and $34 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is
www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.###