Final Telemarketing Sales Rule Amendments Published in Federal Register

The Federal Trade Commission announced that today's edition of the Federal Register will officially publish the amended Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), which provides for a national "do not call" registry that will empower consumers to stop most unwanted telemarketing calls. The amended TSR - with the specific exception of those provisions related to the national "do not call" registry and Caller-ID requirements for telemarketers - will go into effect on March 31, 2003, 60 days after today's Federal Register publication.

On December 18, 2002, the Commission announced the amendment of the TSR, but publication in the Federal Register is required before the amended Rule can go into effect. Today's Federal Register notice formally publishes the entire amended TSR, including the "do not call" and Caller-ID amendments, but the "do not call" amendments will not be implemented until approximately seven months after Congress approves funding for the "do not call" registry. Also, as detailed in the notice, telemarketers will have one year to come into compliance with the new Rule provisions that require them to transmit Caller-ID information, enabling consumers who have Caller-ID services to know who is calling them.

The complete text of the amended TSR is available on the FTC's Web site at the following address: www.ftc.gov/os/2003/01/tsrfrn.pdf. The amendments that were printed in the Federal Register today can be found at: www.ftc.gov/bcp/rulemaking/tsr/tsr-review.htm.

Copies of the Federal Register notice, as well as related information for consumers and businesses, are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

(FTC File No. R411001)