In The Western World Today, The Most Unfortunate, Hated People Are Probably The Faceless Telemarketers. One Main Reason For This Is The Fact That These Telemarketers Typically Interrupt People At The Most Inopportune Times, When Either Dinner Is Placed On The Table Or A Parent Is Reading To His Or Her Child.Because Of Such Fact And The Rapidly Growing Outsourced Telemarketing, In Which Citizens In Western Countries Get Some 16 Billion Sales Calls Each Year, Several Telemarketing Laws Were Passed And Amended. These Telemarketing Laws, However, Differ From State To State And From Country To Country. There Are Also Some Locales That Proposed Additional Legislation At The City As Well As At The Country Levels. With This Variety, Each User Of Outbound Dialing Or Telemarketing Is Given The Sole Responsibility To Familiarize Themselves With The Telemarketing Laws Related To Their Specific Application. They Are Also Subjected To Adhere To These Laws.Here Are The Well-established Federal Telemarketing Laws:The Federal Agencies And The StatutesThe Federal Trade Commission And The Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)A Number Of Federal Anti-trust And Consumer Protection Laws Were Enforced By The FTC To Ensure That The Nations Markets Function Competitively And Are Free Of Undue Restrictions. Its Efforts Are Directed Toward Stopping Actions That Threaten The Consumers Opportunities To Exercise Informed Choice. With Such Aim, The FTC Passed The TSR Which In Turn Implements The Telemarketing And Consumer Fraud And Abuse Prevention Act Of 1994. The TSR Was Amended In Late 2002 And Today, It Creates A Do Not Call Program That Mandates A 3 Percent Abandonment Rate For Predictive Dialers. This Program Even Mandates The Telemarketers To Transmit Caller ID Information. However, There Are Certain Industries That Are Not Covered By The TSR Because By Law The FTC Has No Regulatory Authority Over Them. These Industries Include Banks, Federal Credit Unions, Common Carriers, Nonprofit Organizations, And Insurance Companies.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Telemarketing LawsJust Like The FTC, The FCC Implemented Certain Telemarketing Laws That Protect The Consumers Right To Privacy. There Is The TCPA Which Covered In-house Lists, Prohibiting The Telemarketers From Calling Residential Numbers Unless The Telemarketer Has Instituted Written Policies And Procedures For Maintaining A Do Not Call List For The Subscribers Who Ask Not To Receive Calls From Them. Also, The FCC Telemarketing Laws Mandate That Any Call Made By A Predictive Dialer To A Wireless Telephone Number Is Highly Prohibited.Acts Of CongressThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act Of 1991 (TCPA)The TCPA Basically Restricts Telemarketers From Calling Residential Numbers Unless The Telemarketer Has Instituted Written Policies And Procedures For Maintaining A Do Not Call List For The Users Who Ask To Be Listed On The Do Not Call Registry. It Is Further Important To Note That These Set Of Telemarketing Laws Also Prohibit The Sending Of Any Unsolicited Fax Advertisement, As Well As The Use Of Auto Dialers And The Sending Of Recorded Messages.The Telemarketing And Consumer Fraud Act And Abuse Protection Act Of 1994This Set Of Telemarketing Laws Required The FTC To Develop Regulations To Prevent Fraudulent And Abusive Practices By The Telemarketers. It Also Requires The FTC To Develop Rules Against Telemarketing Practices That Are Coercive Or Abusive Of The Customers Right To Privacy. From This Set Of Telemarketing Laws, The FTC Was Able To Develop The Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) Which Was Mentioned Above.
