FCC Goes After First Do Not Call Violation
In a signal that the enforcement stage of its Do Not Call rule has begun, the Federal Trade Commission announced last week that it was suing Braglia Marketing Group, a Las Vegas telemarketing company that allegedly made more than 300,000 telephone calls to people on the U.S. Do Not Call registry, according to the Financial Times. The FTC said it would seek fines for violations of calls made by the firm on behalf of real estate developers selling time share resort properties in Atlantic City, N.J. The suit, filed by the Justice department on behalf of the FTC, will be the first courtroom test of the do-not-call provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule legislation which went into effect 11 months ago.
Since then, Americans have placed more than 63 million home and mobile telephone numbers on the do-not-call list the Times noted. Telemarketers who violate the rules face penalties of up to $11,000 per call. Charitable and political callers are exempt from the provisions provided they respect consumer requests not to be called back.
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