735 Thousand

National Do Not Call Registry LogoThat’s the number of people who signed up for the National Do Not Call Registry on the first day. (Think eight numbers every second.) The web site is still getting hit hard enough that availability is intermittent.

The telemarketers are worried that this will devastate their businesses. I’m not particularly worried about their profits. In fact, I don’t expect the 80% decrease in the number of calls that the FTC claims.

The reason is simple: there’s enough exemptions in the law to drive a tank through. Long-distance phone companies, banks, airlines, and insurance companies can still call, provided they don’t use a professional telemarketing agency. Political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors can all call, as can any company you’ve given money to in the last 18 months.

That’s a lot of loopholes.

(Logo courtesy Federal Trade Commission.)

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