Deadline arrives for Do Not Call list

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.

Nevadans have until Sunday to sign up for the national Do Not Call Registry, state Consumer Advocate Tim Hay said.

As of Oct. 1, telemarketers who dial people on the Do Not Call list are subject to fines of $11,000 per call.

Those signed up for the registry represent about a fifth of the residential lines in the state, but personal cell phones are also eligible to be added to the list.

"Our current Nevada total is about 320,000 on the list," Hay said.

President Bush approved the federal registry on March 11, although the legislation creating the list passed several years ago.

The federal law limits interstate telemarketing calls, although calls from political groups, charities and surveys can still be made.

The federal law would still have allowed telemarketing operations within Nevada to continue calling Nevadans.

Gov. Kenny Guinn closed that loophole when he signed Assembly Bill 232 on June 10. That legislation allows the attorney general to use the national Do Not Call list as the mechanism to prohibit telemarketing calls made within Nevada to Nevada residents, so consumers need to sign up only once to avoid the calls.