FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News Media Contact:

June 26, 2003 Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0511

e-mail: rosemary.kimball@fcc.gov

**FCC AUTHORIZES NATIONWIDE DO-NOT-CALL REGISTRY**

***Consumers Now Have Easy Option to Eliminate Telemarketing Calls***

Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission today updated
its rules implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991
(TCPA) and established a national do-not-call registry for consumers who
wish to avoid telemarketing calls. The registry is nationwide in scope,
includes all telemarketers (with the exception of certain non-profit
organizations), and covers both interstate and intrastate telemarketing
calls. Consumers can place their telephone numbers on the registry
through one telephone call or one Web click.

Unwanted telemarketing calls are a national problem. The FCC has heard
the American consumer and responded. Today's expansion of the FCC's
original TCPA rules, adopted in 1992, gives consumers the choice of
whether or not to receive telemarketing calls in their homes.

The telemarketing industry has undergone significant changes in the
technologies and methods used to contact consumers which have resulted
in significant growth in the number of telemarketing calls. There has
been a corresponding increase in consumer frustration and
dissatisfaction.

Industry estimates indicate that telemarketers may attempt as many as
104 million calls to consumers and businesses every day. The Commission
also cited dramatic increases in telemarketer use of autodialers, which
deliver prerecorded messages to thousands of potential customers every
day, and predictive dialers, which initiate phone calls while
telemarketers are talking to other consumers and which frequently
abandon calls before a telemarketer is free to take the next call.

The Commission will implement the do-not-call registry in conjunction
with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The national database will be
administered by the FTC and enforcement will be coordinated between the
FCC and the FTC. A forthcoming Memorandum of Understanding, signed by
both agencies, will detail the enforcement functions.

The Commission will not require states to discontinue the use of their
own do-not-call lists once the national do-not-call registry goes into
effect. The TCPA prohibits a state from using any do-not-call list that
does not include the part of the national do-not-call registry that
relates to that state. Thus any individual state do-not-call list must
include all the registrants on the national data base for that state.

The federal rules constitute a floor and therefore supercede all less
restrictive state do-not-call rules. States may adopt more restrictive
do-not-call laws governing intrastate telemarketing. When Congress
enacted the TCPA it gave the Commission jurisdiction over both
interstate and intrastate telemarketing calls with the intent generally
to promote a uniform regulatory scheme. Therefore, any state regulation
of interstate telemarketing calls that differs from FCC rules almost
certainly would be preempted, although the FCC will consider any alleged
conflicts on a case-by-case basis. Nothing done in the Order prohibits
states from enforcing state regulations that are consistent with the
TCPA in state courts.

Consumers also will continue to have the option of using current
company-specific do-not-call registries if they wish to eliminate
telemarketing calls from specific companies only.

In its Order today, the FCC also adopted restrictions on the use of
predictive dialers in an effort to reduce the number of "hang-up" and
"dead air" calls consumers experience. It also specified that
telemarketers cannot block caller ID information and tightened its
existing rules on unsolicited faxes to require that express permission
be obtained in writing by companies before sending faxed advertisements
to its customers.

Finally, the Order establishes a common-sense exemption to permit calls
by a marketer to friends, family members and acquaintances.

Details of the FCC TCPA Order follow:

**National Do-Not-Call Registry**

-   The national do-not-call registry established by the FCC will cover
    both interstate and intrastate commercial telemarketing calls.

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-   Consumers can register, by telephone or by Internet, any residential
    telephone number, including wireless numbers, at no cost.

-   The database has been set up and will be administered by the FTC.

-   The FCC and FTC will coordinate enforcement efforts. The details of
    this will be included in a forthcoming Memorandum of Understanding
    that the two agencies will sign.

-   The current company-specific do-not-call lists will still be
    available to consumers who wish to avoid telemarketing calls only
    from specific companies.

-   Consumers registering with the national registry will be able to
    provide express written permission to any companies from which they
    wish to receive telemarketing calls.

-   Telemarketers may continue to call individuals who have not placed
    their numbers on a do-not-call list and those with whom they have an
    established business relationship.

-   Tax-exempt nonprofit organizations will not be subject to the
    do-not-call requirements since they are exempted under the TCPA.

-   Calls regarding political and religious speech will not be subject
    to the do-not call requirements since they are not considered
    \"telephone solicitations\" under the TCPA.

-   The Commission declined to preempt state-administered do-not-call
    lists and will coordinate with the states to harmonize their lists
    with the national registry.

    **Established Business Relationship**

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-   The Commission's revised definition of "established business
    relationship" allows a company to contact a customer for 18 months
    after a business transaction and 3 months after an inquiry or
    application.

-   However, once a customer has asked to be placed on a
    company-specific do-not-call list, the company may not call the
    consumer again regardless of whether the consumer continues to do
    business with the company.

    **"Hang Up" and "Dead Air" Calls and Caller ID**

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-   Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more
    than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A
    call will be considered "abandoned" if it is not transferred to a
    live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient's greeting,
    although prerecorded messages sent under the "established business
    relationship" exemption are permitted.

-   When a call is abandoned within the permissible three percent range,
    the telemarketer must deliver a prerecorded identification message.

-   Telemarketers must allow the phone to ring for 15 seconds or four
    rings before disconnecting any unanswered call.

-   Telemarketers must transmit caller ID information and are prohibited
    from blocking caller ID information.

-   Call abandonment rules and caller ID requirements will not apply to
    tax exempt, nonprofit organizations.

    **Unsolicited Faxes**

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-   Express permission must now be obtained in writing before faxed
    advertisements may be sent to a customer.

-   Fax broadcasters may be liable for unsolicited faxing if there is a
    high degree of involvement or actual notice of the unlawful
    activity.

Consumers can register on-line for the national do-not-call registry
beginning June 27, 2003. Telephone registration will open for consumers
in states west of the Mississippi River -- including Minnesota and
Louisiana -- on the same date. Telephone registration will be available
July 7 in the entire country. Details on how to sign up for the registry
will be available shortly. The registry will become effective on October
1, 2003.

For more information on the FCC's telemarketing rules, including the
national do-not-call registry, visit the FCC's Web site at
[www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall](http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall/).

Action by the Commission June 26, 2003, by Report and Order (FCC
03-153). Chairman Powell, Commissioners Abernathy, Martin, Copps and
Adelstein with Chairman Powell and Commissioners Abernathy, Copps and
Adelstein issuing separate statements.

-   FCC --

CGB Contacts: Richard D. Smith at (202) 418-2512 and Erica McMahon at
(202) 418-2512.

CG Docket 02-278