“We Decline”

Proposal: Since most, if not all, states already have some form of Do Not Call legislation, why not consolidate these laws into a Federal Do Not Call Registry, initially capitalized with stimulus funding. Furthermore, since this contest has been initiated due to the public outcry of invasion of privacy, then the public should participate in the battle to secure their own privacy.

Procedure:

1. Within the National Do Not Call Registry (NDNCR) program, establish a per-violation financial penalty against any telemarketer, no matter how many telephone numbers it uses to conduct its business.

The public at large will be required to screen and report the phone number, time and date of each privacy violation to the NDNCR, using a Hot Line, Internet or Email. This provides a verifiable record of the violation via FCC records, if necessary. At some arbitrary number of reports received, say, 20, establish a ‘Beginning Count’ for the specific Telemarketing Company. This becomes the ‘1st Violation’ and constitutes the count-up of each individually reported call regardless of the initiating phone number(s) from that Telemarketer

1st violations will require the guilty telemarketers to pay sufficient fines, say $50,000 - $60,000 sufficient to support staffing of the NDNCR. Additional fines will flow to the General Revenue Fund.

Publish a statement, putting all telemarketers on notice that the NDNCR program will begin on a given date. Such date is to be a reasonable time period, say 30 - 60 days. Further, the NDNCR program is to continue for as long as telemarketing violations continue to be reported and for 180 days beyond the last violation. This applies to ALL telemarketers as a class. Alternatively, make the NDNCR program permanent with no specific end date, depending on the general public’s response.