FTC May Ease Recorded Call Rules

The Federal Trade Commission plans to file this week for a change to telemarketing rules that would remove an apparent, yet so far unenforced, ban on prerecorded telemarketing calls to consumers.

Under the proposal, prerecorded telemarketing calls that reach consumers would not be considered illegal abandoned or “dead air” calls if the telemarketer has an existing business relationship with the consumer. The FTC will file its proposal in the Federal Register in response to a petition from Voice Mail Broadcasting Corp., Costa Mesa, CA.

During the FTC’s July 2003 overhaul of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, which resulted in the national no-call list, the agency declared that telemarketers had to keep call-abandonment rates to 3 percent or less per day. It also stated that prerecorded messages reaching a live consumer would be counted as abandoned calls.

For this complete story, please visit FTC May Ease Recorded Call Rules.