Do Not Call List a ’success,’ says CRTC
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- The same day p2pnet’s Devil’s Advocate wrote a post citing Do Not Call List maintainer Bell Canada as one of the worst offenders, CTV ran a story saying “many Canadians who signed up are feeling duped because they’re receiving more telemarketing calls than ever before”.
And that, it says, is because the list, “may have gotten into the wrong hands”.
“To access the list, a telemarketer simply has to go to the National Do Not Call List website, enter the appropriate information and pay a small fee,” it says, going on:
“The problem is, anyone can pose as a telemarketer and obtain the list. If they’re willing to break the rules, they could then call the numbers, which are all recent. And if that list makes its way to a telemarketer outside Canada, the CRTC does not have the jurisdiction to stop them from calling Canadian numbers.
“Eleanor Friedland, vice-president of the Consumers Council of Canada, said the situation is ‘now worse than it was before’.”
According to the CRTC, the DNCL registry, “has been a success and that an increase in unwanted calls cannot be absolutely attributed to the registry,” says CTV, quoting the commission’s Lynne Fancy as saying it’s seeing, “positive feedback from Canadians, that they have actually seen a reduction in the number of calls”.
“In terms of an increase of calls . . . telemarketers can obtain calling lists from a wide variety of different sources, and these sources are unrelated to either the CRTC or the national do-not-call list,” she added.
The story also has Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, who wants to hear from people who’ve experienced violations, saying the do-not-call list is so flawed it should be the “do-not-hesitate-to-call-list.”
Geist also said jurisdiction flaws have provided a clear loophole for telemarketers, says the story.
“We’ve seen almost from the very outset, organizations set up shop outside the country and call using either automated calls, robocalls or just regular calls coming from outside Canada — which is beyond the CRTC’s jurisdiction,” he said.
What kind of penalties exist for violators?
John Lawford, counsel at Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa told CTV the CRTC can impose fines of up to $15,000 per call against a company or up to $1,500 per call against an individual, but, “he also said fines could be as low as one cent per call”.
Geist, who also runs www.ioptout.ca so Canadians can tell supposedly exempted organizations that they don’t want to be bothered by them, now wants anyone who knows about companies ignoring the DNCL to let him know.
worst offenders – The arrogant monster called Bell, January 15, 2009
CTV – Do-not-call list made situation ‘worse,’ says group, January 15, 2009
ignoring the DNCL – Wanted: Do Not Call List violators, January 16, 2009
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January 16th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
No, it’s an EPIC FAIL!
January 16th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
this is why i never signed up to the do not call list in the first place.
just never give out your phone number. and for places that you do make them sign a do not call request.
my bank signed it and i never hear from them or any third parties.
same goes for everyone else i “had” to give my number too.
another trick, don’t have a phone pluged into your phone jack and just use your cell phone for personal calls.
there no ring ring during dinner.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
If the CRTC had half a brain they would set up a dozen “honeypot” phone numbers that were otherwise unused, add them to the DNCL and trace anyone who calls. Once could be a simple mistake, but more than one should end in prosecution.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
@ Andy:
That would (could) be the case if they really wanted to ding Bell. Unfortunately, when the Bell tolls ……………….
Cheers!
January 16th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
CRTC==Bell!
January 17th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Jon,
Is your mail getting through?
January 17th, 2009 at 1:59 am
It does seem that Bell has an unhealthy leverage over the CRTC. There should be a governmental investigation about these links. I doubt they can viewed as legal.