DMA ISSUES ALERT TO TELEPHONE MARKETERS

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DMA ISSUES ALERT TO TELEPHONE MARKETERS

NEW YORK, April 19, 2004 - The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) today issued an alert to all telephone marketers urging the industry to avoid specific troublesome practices that have come to the Association’s attention since the launch of the National Do Not Call Registry. While both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and The DMA acknowledge that compliance with the new law has been superb, today’s alert, titled "Critical Checkpoints for Consumer Calling Campaigns," has been issued to reinforce the importance of following both the letter and spirit of the law. The DMA Teleservices Ethics Committee developed today’s alert.

"Compliance with the do-not-call list has been exceptional so far," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, The DMA. "The telephone marketing industry has proven that it is serious about respecting the wishes of consumers, just as it did last fall, even when the list was in legal limbo."

"It has been brought to our attention that some fringe telemarketers are flat-out breaking or are trying to ‘get around’ the new law," said Patricia Faley Kachura, vice president, ethics & consumer affairs, The DMA. "Both cases are unacceptable to us, and the alert we have issued today is part of our objective to straighten these folks out."

"It has been very beneficial to have a diverse group of teleservices professionals working on The DMA Teleservices Ethics Committee over the past two years," said Noreen Kaminski, vice president, government affairs, DialAmerica Marketing, and chair of the Committee. "During this time we’ve reviewed many cases where ethically dubious practices were being used. And with those cases in mind, we developed an alert that strikes a balance between compliance, consumer concerns, and overall good business practices."

The DMA emphasized that compliance with the National Do Not Call Registry has been overwhelming, as confirmed by internal estimates and also by the FTC, which is the agency administering the no-calls program. Today’s alert reminds marketers that the entire telephone marketing industry remains under intense media and legislative scrutiny.

About The DMA

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 economic-impact study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $1.7 trillion in 2003, including $133 billion in catalog sales and $41 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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