Do Not Call List

A second Federal Judge has stuck down the proposed national “Do Not Call” list, saying it violates the freedom of speech rights of telemarketers. Which I don’t understand at all. Telemarketers certainly have a right to say whatever it is they want, just as I have that right. They do not have the right to physically enter my home, unwanted, and say whatever they want. That is against the law, it is trespassing. And since my telephone is my property, I believe I also have the right to tell them not to call it. That makes sense to me. Apparently it does not make sense to a Federal Judge. And no one is telling the telemarketers they can’t speak their message, of course they can, no one is taking their right of speech away from them. They just can’t call people who have opted out.

Furthermore, in the past, there have been all sorts of advertising that has been censored, the most prominent example being the ban on tobacco advertising on television and radio. If that ban is constitutional, why isn’t it also constitutional to say you can’t call people who opt out?

Before New York instituted its own statewide “do not call” list, I got a lot of telemarketing calls. And I had reached the point where I didn’t care to be polite with the telemarketers who called. As soon as I realized it was a telemarketing call, I hung up. I didn't like being rude like that, but I felt I had no choice, telemarketers had gotten way out of hand. If I was in a particularly peeved mood, I would just put the phone down without hanging up, so no one was listening, and the telemarketer could decide when to cut his own losses and hang up. Now I hardly get any telemarketing calls, and I love it. But, if I have to go back to being rude and hanging up on people, I certainly will.