Telemarketing Abuse Lives On
Just when you thought some issues have gotten resolved, or at least under control, reports surface that might lead one to think it’s all for naught.
Years ago, the Federal Trade Commission began implementing the telemarketing Do Not Call List after many years of effort and restricted outbound telemarketing. Since then, the overwhelming majority of legitimate marketers have followed the rule which has had devastating effects on part of our industry. One apparent casualty: telemarketing lists and bad perceptions about telemarketing in general still exist to this day.
But fraudulent telemarketing hasn’t died and one wonders whether the nearly 10-year-old DNC regulations are in fact sufficient to address the problem as it exists now—or even if the Federal Trade Commission has the will or power to take it on.
Recently, a New York Times columnist wrote of how robocalls—pre-recorded automated calls that go out randomly—were adding to life’s general irritation and frustration levels.
And she’s not the only one complaining. Not by a long shot.
Proliferation of these calls now is largely a function of newer technology and the fact that many of these operations are based overseas beyond the reach of federal and state authorities.
Maybe this is one of the undersides of global commerce.
Robocalls promoting things like mortgage refinancing and wiping out credit card debt are everywhere now.
But so are robocalls from political candidates, some of the worst abusers of this practice.
In this Presidential election year, robocalls from politicians can only proliferate.
Even though political robocalls are considered protected free speech, might not these practices help lead to another push toward a stronger more far-reaching laws regulating commercial telemarketing?
