Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Biennial report on Do Not Call Registry issued to Congress, (Jan 4, 2016)

By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.

The FTC has issued to Congress its biennial report on the use of the Do Not Call Registry by both consumers and businesses over the past two years. The Registry exists to provide consumers with a choice regarding whether or not to receive telemarketing calls.

This year’s report, issued in compliance with the Do Not Call Registry Fee Extension Act, addresses: (1) the impact of the five-year re-registration requirement which was eliminated in 2007; (2) how the FTC is responding to new technologies that have increased the number of illegal telemarketing calls made to numbers on the Registry; (3) issues regarding number portability and abandoned telephone numbers; and (4) the impact of the established business relationship exception on consumers and businesses.

As of September 30, 2015, the Registry had more than 222 million active registrations. This was an increase of more than 4.9 million registrations from the previous fiscal year (FY).

In FY 2015:

• 2,504 business and other entities paid Registry access fees, totaling more than $13.3 million; and

• 20,596 entities accessed the Registry without paying a fee because they access five or fewer area codes or are a charity.

Similar numbers of entities utilized the Registry in FY 2014 and paid access fees of more than $13.5 million.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews