'Do not call' list fights back

Despite a federal court's ruling this week putting on hold the national Do Not Call Registry, the consumer rebellion against intrusive marketing may be only just beginning.

Faced with evening calls from strangers, an e-mail onslaught of spam, and mailboxes overflowing with bulky catalogs, fed-up Americans appear ready to draw a clear boundary. They want their castles, particularly at dinnertime, to be their own private realm.

The chance to opt in to a federal do-not-call list - the first such effort on a national scale - was expected to be popular, but few foresaw just how popular: By Oct. 1, the registry's start-up date, it is expected that 60 million Americans will have signed up, that's more half of all households with telephones.

In this context, experts say the legal decision this week in favor of telemarketing companies is likely to be only a "speed bump" on the road to greater privacy from sales pitches. Congress is already moving to fix the problem with legislation, and the Federal Trade Commission is forging ahead to implement its program, counting that it can win on appeal.

The backlash against the direct-marketing industry doesn't mean the typical American is opting out of his or her consumer lifestyle. But, faced with more than 1,500 advertising pitches a day - three times as many as in the 1960s, that consumer is more than ever looking for a haven. In particular, people want a reprieve from things that require work - like answering the phone, or wading through unwanted e-mails.

"The do not call list is just another manifestation of Americans deep-seated concerns over privacy," says Peter Tuckel, a professor of sociology at Hunter College. "Americans feel their privacy has been invaded, so they've adopted an array of technological tools to combat this problem. It started with answer machines and caller ID. Now there's a whole array of new technologies to cope with it. It's all a manifestation of the same underlying concern, which is to try to preserve come kind of privacy in the home place."

That desire has spread to Americans' computers as well. California recently passed a law that forbids spammers to send e-mail unless a consumer specifically says they want to receive it. Similar, but less-comprehensive legislation, is pending in Congress. At the same time, more consumers are installing filtering software, and large computer firms like Microsoft are joining in the fight against spam. In addition to clogging up bandwidths, e-mail pitches like telemarketing have become a serious nuisance at work and at home.

"They're extremely noxious and intrusive because they have to be dealt with," says Peter Crabb, a professor of psychology at Penn State University in Abbington. "It's important for consumers to take a stand, whether they think they have power or not, and to some extent, they are."

The telemarketing industry is pushing back. In addition to the case just ruled on in Oklahoma, at least two other court challenges to the federal registry are outstanding. One attacks it on First Amendment grounds, charging it creates two inequitable categories of speech by exempting charitable organizations, politicians, and pollsters from the ban on calling.

Page: 1 | 2