Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: FTC Updates Congress on Do Not Call Registry, (Dec 23, 2013)

The Federal Trade Commission has published a report to Congress, issued every two years, on the state of the National Do Not Call Registry.

As of September 2013, more than 223 million active consumer and business numbers were registered for Do Not Call, an increase of more than 5.8 million registrations from the previous fiscal year, the FTC reported. The FTC now receives over 27 percent of its registrations from mobile devices.

During fiscal year 2013, a total of 2,875 businesses and other entities paid more than $14 million to access the Do Not Call Registry. Another 27,626 entities were provided access, but are exempt from paying fees (because they access five or fewer area codes free of charge or are a charity).

The report notes that voice over internet protocol (VoIP), caller ID spoofing, and automated dialing technology have made it easier for individuals and companies who disregard the law to make high volumes of calls at very little cost. This led to an increase in illegal robocalls, which peaked at approximately 200,000 complaints to the FTC per month at the end of fiscal year 2012. To combat the increase in illegal robocalls, the FTC hosted a robocall summit, sponsored a public challenge to develop technological solutions, and produced new resources for consumers.

News: ConsumerProtection Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews