THE DMA TELEPHONE MARKETING CONSUMER COMPLAINT SYSTEM

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1, 2003 – The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) today launched a National Do-Not-Call Consumer Complaint System. The new service will allow consumers who have listed their household phone numbers on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry to log complaints against telephone marketing companies who they believe have not honored their expressed wishes not to be called.

The DMA is making available to consumers an e-mail address, a Web site, and a toll-free telephone number at which consumers who are already on the FTC's list can inform the Association of telephone solicitations in violation of the new no-call rules. The contact information for these free consumer-complaint channels are:

E-mail: callcomplaints@the-dma.org

Toll-free telephone number: (800) 969-6566

Web site: http://www.the-dma.org/review/complaint.shtml

"Today's announcement underscores our commitment to consumers," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, The DMA. "We are committed to voluntarily complying with the wishes of consumers who have registered their household numbers on the FTC's list, and today's action is simply the next logical step in helping to ensure that consumer preferences are respected by the industry."

The DMA also used the occasion of October 1 to reiterate its call to the entire telephone marketing industry to abide by the wishes of consumers who have registered their household phone numbers on the FTC’s national do-not-call list, regardless of the uncertainty brought about by recent court actions.

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.

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