“Do-Not-Call-List” Testimony: Before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

As you know, the Commission adopted the Registry as one of the amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) announced December 18, 2003, and formally promulgated in the Federal Register on January 29, 2003. On March 11, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Do Not Call Implementation Act (DNCIA), which provides for the FTC to collect fees from sellers and telemarketers to fund the establishment and maintenance of the National Do Not Call Registry. Congress enacted this legislation, and provided complementary appropriations,2 to support the FTC’s decision to establish such a Registry (conditioned on funding) as part of its amendment of the TSR.3 The DNCIA also set a short deadline for the FCC to finish a rulemaking proceeding, already in progress, reviewing that agency’s telemarketing regulations (originally promulgated in 1992) pursuant to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and required the FCC to maximize consistency with the FTC’s Do Not Call rules. Accordingly, the FCC announced its adoption of complementary do not call regulations on June 27, 2003, and formally promulgated them in the Federal Register on July 25, 2003.