The National ‘Do Not Call’ Registry was implemented in 2003. It has been the most comprehensive government-sponsored solution to blocking unwanted phone calls for millions of consumers and business owners.

Since then, the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry has expanded rapidly to now contain over 200 million telephone numbers from people who do not want to be contacted by telemarketers. It also assists telemarketers stay informed by screening out consumers who have made in known they do not wish to be contacted.

The primary online link to the home page of the DNC Registry can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall. Spanish-language information about the Registry is found at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/donotcall/es_index.html.

You can register online at WWW.DONOTCALL.GOV or call toll-free, 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236), by calling directly from the number you wish to register. Registration is free.

The Registry consists only of telephone numbers. It is important to note that no other personally identifiable information is made available by the government, and they do not keep a record on whether the numbers are land line or cell phones. Both are protected.

There are several exemptions to the Registry rules you must be aware of. Some people call these “loopholes.” But the FTC’s statutory authority prevents them from restricting political calls or telephone calls from non-profits and charities. Yet, you will find that the Registry does indeed control telemarketers calling on behalf of charities.

Moreover, calls from legitimate “survey” organizations are not restricted because these organizations are not offering to sell anything to consumers.

And, if you have done or sought business with a company, those calls are permitted because a company is allowed to call you up to 18 months after you last did business with it, and a company can contact you for up to 90 days after you inquired about a product or service it sells. This is referred to an “established business relationship.” It is worth noting, however, that if you no longer desire to be contacted by by any such business, you can then request that they personally add you to their own in-house ‘do not contact’ list.

Information about filing a complaint with the FTC about a telemarketer or debt collector violating the Do Not Call rules can be found online at: https://www.donotcall.gov/Complain/ComplainCheck.aspx.

The FTC reports on its website: “Telemarketers have to “scrub” their call lists every 31 days. That is, they are required to subscribe to the DNC Registry from the FTC (the first five area codes are free) and they must then compare their call lists with the Registry every month to ensure that new numbers on the Registry are taken off their lists. Therefore, if a consumer signs up for the Registry, they should start receiving fewer telemarketing calls in no more than 31 days.”

The Commission reports it has brought nearly 70 enforcement actions against companies and telemarketers for Registry violations, the largest being a settlement with DirecTV and its telemarketers that resulted in fine of more than $5.3 million. It’s website reports: “Violations include, but are not limited to, calling consumers on the Registry, not buying the Registry before telemarketing, calling under the pretense of conducting a survey; calling consumers after the 18-month established business relationship has expired. To date, FTC enforcement actions have led to civil penalties of more than $85 million and over $326 million in consumer redress payments.”

A complete list of ‘Do Not Call’-related enforcement actions taken to date can be found online at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/donotcall/cases.html.

Originally, ‘Do Not Call’ registrations were only good for 5 years from the date of the most recent registration. However, Congress desided to pass legislation that was signed into law, making numbers on the Registry permanent and eliminating the previous 5-year re-registration requirement.

Thus, consumers no longer have to re-register their phone numbers as time passes. However, consumers will still have the ability to log onto the FTC website from time-to-time if they wish to check and ensure that their home/business/cellphone numbers are still showing up in the Registry.

PrivacyRights.org published a very thorough guide on showing simple steps you can take to protect your telephone privacy. It is called “How to Put an End to Unwanted or Harassing Phone Calls” and it offers a very extensive how-to roadmap on how to put a stop to unwanted phone calls on you home phone, your cell phone, and your business phone.

There are products on the market which help consumers block unwanted telephone solicitation calls from telemarketers. PrivacyCorps.com offers a line of products that promise to help (NOTE: we are not affiliated with this website in any manner, so carefully review the product line at PrivacyCorps.com here and ask lots of questions of their support staff before placing a purchase.)

Check out these “7 Sure Ways To Block A Phone Number!” courtesy of www.techpp.com.