The National Do Not Call Registry is a database maintained by the United States federal government, listing the telephone numbers of individuals and families who have requested that telemarketers not contact them.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opened the National Do Not Call Registry in order to comply with the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003 (Pub.
), sponsored by Representatives Billy Tauzin and John Dingell and signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 11, 2003.
[2] The law established the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry in order to facilitate compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
Originally, phone numbers remained on the registry for a period of five years, but are now permanent because of the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, effective February 2008.
[5][6] In 2005, a rumor began circulating via e-mail that cell phone providers were planning on making their number directories available to telemarketers.
[14] Many journalists and victims of fraudulent calls and Do-Not-Call violations have extensively documented ongoing and widespread inaction and lack of enforcement by the FTC.
[17] In May 2014 Sprint Corporation was fined a record $7.5 million for failing to honor requests by consumers to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls and texts.
"We expect companies to respect the privacy of consumers who have opted out of marketing calls," Travis LeBlanc, acting chief of the FCC's enforcement bureau, said at the time.