The prospect of having a National “Do Not Spam” list forbidding junk e-mail to send to those addresses on it is a very tantalizing dream, but it might become nothing more than a pipe dream if the efforts to kill the National Do Not Call Registry it’s modeled after by the telemarketing lobby are successful. Here’s a quote from their elected mouthpiece:
“This truly is a case of regulatory overkill,” Tim Searcy, executive director of the American Teleservices Association (ATA), said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the FCC ignored its obligations under the federal law and the Constitution to carefully balance the privacy interests of consumers with the First Amendment rights of legitimate telemarketers. The law directed the FCC to avoid solutions that had an adverse economic impact, yet the agency consistently opted for the most restrictive approaches while ignoring less burdensome regulations.”
Forgive me for not being upset with the prospect of ruining the telemarketing industry, but I pay a high premium for my phone service, just as I do for my e-mail account, and I consider telemarketing and spam to be a waste of my time and the resources I pay for. I pay these premiums for my use, and not for you to use as a marketing conduit. If you want me to be more sympathetic for the plight of telemarketers and more receptive to unsolicited direct advertising, try picking up some of the tab for what I pay to use these things. Then we’ll talk.
Until you’re willing to put your money where you mouth is, then you have no right to bitch and moan about first amendment rights if I put the digital equivalent of a “No Solicitors” sign on my phone number or e-mail address.
Tags: Business