Bills take different approach to halting unwanted callers

Erin Neff

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers know people don't like telemarketing calls, but two legislators are offering competing versions of how to address the problem.

Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, presented testimony Monday on a proposed "do not call" registry, which would require telemarketers to buy the list of those who don't want to be called and face stiff penalties if they violated those wishes.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, offered the opposite approach Monday in introducing Senate Bill 255 -- a measure that creates a "do call" list.

"Why should I, as a citizen, have to go out and affirmatively do that?" Townsend asked about the other proposed registry. "If you want to be called and you don't mind people calling you at home, then you would file your name with the attorney general, who compiles the list and charges $250 to anybody who wants it."

Meanwhile, President Bush today signed legislation creating a national "do not call" list.

The bill allows the Federal Trade Commission to collect fees from telemarketers to fund the registry, which will cost about $16 million in its first year. The program should begin by summer.

Steve Tackes, a lobbyist for MCI/Worldcom, told lawmakers the state proposal was unnecessary, given the efforts to approve a federal registry.

Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said she would prefer the state to act on its own because she is not certain the federal measure would offer enough protections for Nevadans.

The proposal had strong support during the hearing.

Conklin testified with the support of Nevada AARP members, many of whom crowded into the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee wearing yellow buttons supporting a "do not call" registry.

"Consumers shouldn't have to buy devices," Conklin said, referring to technology such as the TeleZapper, which electronically removes a phone number from a telemarketer's auto-dialing system on the other end.

Conklin's bill would require telemarketers to buy the registry from the attorney general's office every six months and update their calling systems. Calls for charitable, political or election causes would be exempt from the measure.

Bob Ostrovosky, a lobbyist for Cox Communications, said the bill should also exclude communications between companies and people with whom they have a business relationship.

Of the 32 states with "do not call" registries, only Indiana has no exemptions, he said.

The federal service will be available for sign-up via the Internet or a toll-free number. Telemarketers would have to check the list every three months to find out who does not want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation.

Charities, surveys and politicians would be exempt.

Telemarketers have fought the federal registry, saying it will devastate their business. The Direct Marketing Association, an industry group, filed a lawsuit against the FTC last month on grounds the registry unlawfully restricts free speech.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.