FTC Submits Report to Congress on Do Not Call Improvement Act of 2007

The Commission has approved the Report to Congress Under the Do Not Call Improvement Act of 2007 (2007 DNCIA), signed into law on February 15, 2008. The report, which is mandated under the 2007 DNCIA, contains information on the Commission’s efforts to improve the accuracy of the National Do Not Call Registry. The report details the efforts that the FTC has taken in the nine months since the 2007 DNCIA was signed into law and describes the new procedure that will be used to remove disconnected and reassigned numbers from the National Registry.

The report begins by explaining the goals of the 2007 DNCIA and how the Commission has met those objectives. Next, it describes the operation of the National Registry since its implementation in 2003, with an emphasis the FTC’s continuing work to maintain a balance between its ease of use and its accuracy. The report continues by discussing the tests conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the National Registry. Finally, the report details the new
procedure put in place to maintain the accuracy of the National Registry, which purges numbers from the National Registry only when there is a high degree of confidence that the telephone number has been disconnected and reassigned to a new customer.

The Commission vote to issue the report was 4-0. The report is available on the FTC’s Web site and as a link to this press release. (FTC File No. P034305; the staff contact is Kelly A. Horne, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3031.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.

(FYI 53.2008.wpd)