Announced Action for April 26, 2004

Publication of Federal Register notice: The Commission has approved the publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register that would amend the Telemarketing Sales Rule to revise the fees charged for industry access to the National Do Not Call Registry. As detailed in the notice, which will be published shortly and is available now on the Commission’s Web site as a link to this press release, the FTC is accepting comments on the proposed fee changes. Under the new fee structure proposed by the Commission, the annual fee for each area code of data accessed would become $45, and the maximum amount that any entity would be charged – for access to 280 area codes of data or more – would become $12,375. The proposed rulemaking would continue to allow all entities accessing the Registry to obtain the first five area codes of data for free, and would still allow those entities exempt from the Registry’s requirements to obtain access at no charge.

The FTC is accepting public comments on the proposed rulemaking until June 1, 2004. Pending public comment, the new fee schedule will go into effect on September 1, 2004. The Commission vote approving publication of the Federal Register notice was 5-0. Consumers with questions about the proposed fee increases can call the FTC’s Do Not Call Information Line at 202-326-2710. (FTC File No. P034305; see related press release issued on July 29, 2003.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release 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, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.