| Comment Number: | OL-104564 |
| Received: | 11/29/2004 1:45:14 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Jonathan Blake |
| State: | NV |
| Subject: | Trade Regulation Rule on Telemarketing Sales |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 310 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
With advancing internet telephony decreasing the cost per call, an automated system with prerecorded messages could create problems on the scale of unsolicited commercial email. The definition of a "prior business relationship" is vague enough to allow absurd interpretation by opportunistic marketers. If I'm correct, telemarketers already have the ability to call pre-existing customers if there is a person (not a prerecorded message) on the other end of the line. The cost of paying a live person to make marketing calls is an important barrier to abuse. Decreasing that barrier could make land-line telephones unusable. I am decidedly against allowing prerecorded messages to customers with prior business relationships.