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1/6/2009
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States News Service
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Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter announced that the telephone privacy law is still effective for Hoosiers after seven years. The Do Not Call law, which took effect on January 1, 2002, prohibits most telephone solicitors from calling phone numbers on the list. It is estimated that the Do Not Call legislation has stopped a total of 4,352,496,468 telemarketing calls to Indiana consumers from the laws inception to December 31, 2008.
The attorney generals office had Walker Information Global Network complete a mail survey to measure the effectiveness of the law in reducing telemarketing calls. It was conducted in November 2008.
Nearly two million Indiana phone lines are registered on the Do Not Call list, Carter noted. The law continues to protect the privacy of Indiana???s citizens.
Of survey respondents registered on the list, 94 percent report that the number of telemarketing calls is either less or much less since registering with the Do Not Call list. Telephone Privacy registrants received an average of 4.6 telemarketing calls per week in 2008. An earlier survey had shown that registrants received 12.1 telemarketing calls per week prior to enrollment on the states list.
The survey further indicates that the reduction in calls is attributed to the law itself and not to other telephone technologies that may be used to reduce telemarketing calls, such as voice message systems or answering machines.
Seldom has there been such a popular program, noted Carter. A majority of our citizens asked for relief and nearly all say it???s a program that works. They clearly want their privacy.
Results from the survey also support Indiana???s Autodialer Act, which was recently upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court in December 2008. When asked, 93 percent of survey respondents answered that politicians should not be exempt from the law that prohibits robo calls. The courts 5-0 decision gave the attorney generals office the green light to pursue illegal, pre-recorded telephone messages to Indiana citizens in violation of the states Autodialer Act.
The survey results make it clear that Indiana citizens are prefer not to receive political robo calls, said Carter. The Supreme Courts upholding of the states anti-robo call law will help protect the privacy rights of individuals.
History of the Do Not Call List
The Telephone Privacy Bill was passed unanimously by the Indiana Legislature in May 2001. More than 784,000 registered to be on the Do Not Call list before it took effect on January 1, 2002. By March of 2002, more than one million numbers were registered. Today, nearly two million numbers are on the Do Not Call list.
Legal challenges
After passage, the law was challenged by three lawsuits. First the Professional Firefighters Union of Indiana tried to stop the law just days before it took effect on January 1, 2002. The parties withdrew the suit days later due to a large public outcry.
The second lawsuit was also filed in state court by Steve Martin and Associates, a company selling and distributing Kirby Vacuum Cleaners in southern Indiana, and AIMKO Association, a group of Kirby dealers. They ended their fight by not appealing a ruling from Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt, who ruled that the law was constitutional.
A third lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the law. It was filed in federal court by the Indiana Troopers Association, the Indiana Chiefs of Police, the National Prayer Coalition and the Indiana-Kentucky Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans. Federal district court Judge Sarah Evans Baker upheld the constitutionality of the law in a September 6, 2005 ruling. Three of the groups challenged the decision with the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. The court of appeals affirmed the district courts ruling and there was no appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
We have been fighting telemarketers since the laws inception to defend the privacy rights of Hoosiers, Carter said.
Legislative challenge
In January 2002, an amendment designed to weaken the law was introduced in the Indiana General Assembly. The amendment, which would have allowed more telephone solicitors to contact Hoosiers registered on the Do Not Call list, was withdrawn due to an overwhelming public backlash.
Preemptive challenges before Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Two petitions were filed with the FCC by the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) and a coalition of 33 telemarketers and other organizations that used fundraisers in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The CBA asked the FCC to permit them to contact customers even though they may be registered on the states Do Not Call list. Carter filed a response with the FCC asking the agency to dismiss the CBAs request. The second petition from the coalition asked the FCC to declare that states can only regulate intrastate telemarketing, allowing telemarketers to avoid Indianas Do Not Call law by calling from outside the state.
Carters meetings with FCC commissioners
Carter aggressively opposed any federal rollback of Indiana???s tougher standards. He met with FCC commissioners and advisors 15 times. The most recent meeting was last month at the FCC offices in Washington, DC on December 4, 2008.
We have endured a lengthy, but worthwhile effort to maintain this privacy protection, Carter added. We continue to monitor and work toward defeating efforts at the federal agency level to shoot down this law.
The Do Not Call list is the most widely used consumer protection law in the states history.
To date the attorney generals office has entered into agreements with more than 229 companies for alleged violations of the law and brought five lawsuits to enforce compliance.
Registration for the Do Not Call list is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week at www.attorneygeneral.IN.gov or by calling 1-888-834-9969.
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