Politicians Realize That Politicians Are Abusing 'Do Not Call' Politician Exemption

from the dilemmas dept

Wed, Feb 13th 2008 6:45pm — Mike Masnick

Back when the national "Do Not Call" list was first put in place, the politicians writing the law made sure to exempt themselves from it. Political calls were not covered by the Do Not Call list, and politicians could call people who were on the list as much as they wanted. And, in fact, it appears that's what some politicians are doing. Even worse, they're using automated dialers that keep calling and calling and calling and calling. Just as with political spam, it appears that a few politicians are finally willing to recognize that inundating people with unwanted communications isn't helping their campaigns. Some Senators have proposed some new rules that would limit those political robocalls. Note that it won't stop them or make them subject to the Do Not Call list. Instead, it would merely limit them: only 2 calls per day, no calls before 8am or after 9pm and no hiding the caller ID info. Of course, can someone explain why you would need to hear a recording of a politician calling you even twice a day? It's nice that some are recognizing what a nuisance these calls are, but it doesn't seem like these limits are likely to lessen the annoyance factor by very much.

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Filed Under: campaign calls, do not call, politics, robocalls

23 Comments

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Hellsvilla, 13 Feb 2008 @ 7:10pm

Well...
Well, its a good thing I havent gotten one of those calls yet. If I did, it would most certainly secure the vote. FOR THE OTHER GUY.
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Eskayp, 13 Feb 2008 @ 7:43pm

Case in point: Bill Sali, congressman from Idaho.
Ring, Ring: "unknown number" on the caller ID.
Then pause, click, followed by the braying of a political jackass hard selling his 'phone-in town hall meeting'.
Years ago we realized Sali was a dysfunctional contrarian while in the Idaho Legislature.
At the Federal level, his onging interruptions of our dinners and evenings shed a whole new loutish light on his behavior.
Bill preaches 'family values' but doesn't miss a chance to interfere with family time.
His middle initial must be 'H', for hypocrite.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Feb 2008 @ 8:05pm

Re: Well...
Maybe they're impersonating the other guy to make you vote for him...
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EdwardDupre.com, 13 Feb 2008 @ 8:59pm

This is such a joke. When the law came out I read all of the statutes and wasn't surprised about the exemption. Also, for businesses like mine, who deal with clients nationwide, it would cost us several thousands of dollars to obtain the do not call list for each area code across the US. It basically is a way cut out small and legitimate businesses from honest marketing. In my opinion, that is what caller ID is for and it already was a law for businesses to not block their calls. Also, if you told a business not to call you again, then they could be fined for doing so if you had asked them to place you on their do not call list. Now, I still get blocked calls from businesses pretending to be ???? and that's why I think that all the law did is help to boost big businesses who can afford the list and also businesses who operate outside of the law.
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drkkgt, 13 Feb 2008 @ 9:09pm

Romney for the lose
Yeah, the day before the primary we got a call at 4 by a romney recording, then by some chick for romney at 7:30 and another from romney again at 9:45. All it did was ensure I wasn't going to vote for his annoying @$$
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Agoratrader, 13 Feb 2008 @ 9:37pm

2 calls per day
I think the reasoning behind the 2 calls per day are to allow some room for error incase a number is pulled up twice.
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LDøBë, 13 Feb 2008 @ 10:56pm

Think a little
for the love of pete! I never want
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Jason, 13 Feb 2008 @ 11:20pm

political spam
You should do another article on political spam...it is become more and more common for candidates to "append" email addresses that they have purchased from data vendors to their own email files and then send messages to them, knowing that they are exempt from the can-spam act.
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Enrico Suarve, 14 Feb 2008 @ 2:01am

Re: 2 calls per day
How come politicians are allowed room for error but no one else is?

Surely the people in office should as much as possible be the types of people who don't make that many errors? If you can't run your staffers effectively how the hell are you going to run a country?

Or maybe you could use this as a sort of a Darwinian process to weed out those that do?

Either way i'm glad they don't do political telesales this side of the atlantic in the UK - it would be more likely to turn me off than make me vote for someone
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Shaun Dakin, 14 Feb 2008 @ 4:47am

A Good start - But Not Enough
this is a good start, but not really enough.

These calls are an epidemic and are invading the privacy of All American Voters.

Our members are taking a stand and saying enough is enough at the National Political Do Not Contact Registry at StopPoliticalCalls.org.

Here is a quote from a member this morning:

"I find it very frustrating... I tend to get calls at the WORST time. I have a one year old daughter, and it NEVER fails that the phone will ring when I put her down for a nap or for bed. Also my vote is PRIVATE... so who do you think you are calling with a survey to find out who I am voting for!!! Stop calling me."

Regards,

Shaun Dakin
CEO and Founder
http://www.stoppoliticalcalls.org
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ProgrammingJunkie, 14 Feb 2008 @ 4:48am

Reasons like this are why I disconnected my phone and will not have one in my house.
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JustMatt, 14 Feb 2008 @ 5:28am

Simple: You call me more than one time a year
and I vote for the other guy. See, was that so hard?
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technopolitical, 14 Feb 2008 @ 7:28am

Dum Robo calls
"...appears that a few politicians are finally willing to recognize that inundating people with unwanted communications isn't helping their campaigns."

That is the point .

Keep the calls legal !!

Let the Pols and their campaigns who are dumb enough to over-robo-call suffer defeat at the polls.

That why we have campaigns ,, not so much to see how smart Pols are ,, but How Dumb They Are !!!
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nipseyrussell, 14 Feb 2008 @ 10:12am

room for error, my arse. two per year is pushing it
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Woadan, 14 Feb 2008 @ 11:25am

This is where services like GrandCentral will become useful. Give out the GrandCentral number, and if someone calls and calls and calls, just send them automatically to voicemail. It never touches your work, home, or cell phone.
Woadan
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another mike, 14 Feb 2008 @ 3:20pm

wasn't this covered like 15 years ago?!
Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_Consumer_Protection_Act_of_1991
It limits the use of autodialers, recordings, SMS messages, faxes, ID blocking, etc., etc...
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Sib in Texas, 15 Feb 2008 @ 12:41am

Robocalling - What is Wrong with these People?
Interesting that someone brought up the idea of "pretending to be another candidate". That happened actually - in 2006 - to Tammy Duckworth, running for a hot congressional seat in Missouri. A GOP-affiliated organization robocalled people repeatedly, and the annoying calls started out by talking about Duckworth - the name of the organization was only at the end. Apparently, most people who received the call though it was from the Duckworth campaign. A seriously skeevy thing to do to a veteran who was, not so longer ago, doing her part in Iraq, and lost both of her legs there... I should also add - some Republicans also claim that the same tactic has been used against them. I can, sadly, believe it... If my memory serves, during the GOP primary race between W and McCain, NH voters in 2000 were called in the middle of the night by someone claiming to be a McCain supporter; there were also some ugly calls made in South Carolina. Now there are new allegations regarding calls in New Hampshire, only it would have benefited McCain and hurt Romney - http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/01/romney-mccain-d.html Here's another interesting discussion at the Washington Monthly (a moderate publication, for once)regarding robocalling - http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_11/010021.php
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Feb 2008 @ 12:43am

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was unconstitutional - Do you see anyone doing anything about that?

I gave up on this country and all the damn lies! I just assume it's all lies!

I got these calls also - and am on the do not call list - I picked up and hung up once and they just call back until they are allowed to complete their pitch - ITS COMPLETE FUCKING BULLSHIT!
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Tony LaRocca, 13 Mar 2008 @ 6:22pm

Re:
EdwardDupre.com says: "It basically is a way cut out small and legitimate businesses from honest marketing. In my opinion, that is what caller ID is for and it already was a law for businesses to not block their calls"

The country rallied around a do-not-call list because no one wants ANY businesses or politician calling them. It is not ANY homeowner's responsibility to pay extra for caller ID, or any other feature if they do not want to be bothered by the likes of you. The only "honest marketing" is on billboards, magazines, and commercials. You do not have the right to interrupt anyone's lives with your unsolicited advertising.
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Greg Hanes, 6 Sep 2010 @ 1:04pm

Join the fight against RoboCalls
Tired of Politicians ignoring the National Do Not Call List. Not only do they ignore it, but they don't even call us themselves. You might be wondering if you signed up for that national Do Not Call registry, why would you still be getting any robocalls. It's because political messaging is exempt.They use automated dialers that call and play messages all with out anyway to ask them to stop. Lets lets them know how we feel. Stop The RoboCalls!!!
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Tom Smiley, 1 Nov 2010 @ 4:51pm

I hate these calls, as soon as I hear the name of the idiot they are calling on behalf of I decide not to vote in there favor. Don't care who they are they lose my vote immediately! This is a horrible violation of privacy and the laws must change to protect our rights!
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Trace, 21 May 2012 @ 4:57pm

Unplug
Unplug your phones dummies
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Oct 2012 @ 3:59pm

Re:
The do not call list has a website listing all the people on the list. The website is free and you're required to register your company and check it once a month. Free does not cost you a dime. Maybe you should check your facts before you bellyache about how much it costs to obey the law.
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