The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is trying to determine whether and how
to strengthen the caller ID provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
By requiring telemarketers to provide caller ID information,
the rule allows consumers to screen out unwanted calls. The FTC wants ideas
from the public on how to make caller ID more useful to consumers and combat technologies
that hide telemarketers' identities.
"Beefing up the rule's Caller ID provisions will help the
FTC keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and more effectively fulfill
its consumer protection mission," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's
Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Current rules
The rules now in effect require telemarketers to provide
consumers who use caller ID services with either a telephone number for the
telemarketer or the number of the seller or charitable organization represented
by the telemarketer. Some caller ID services also display names of up to 15
characters to identify the caller.
The rule is designed to promote telemarketer accountability
and help the FTC and other law enforcement agencies identify telemarketers that
engage in improper telemarketing, including telemarketers that call numbers on
the Do Not Call Registry.
Telemarketers must provide the name of the telemarketer,
seller, or charitable organization to such caller ID services, if the
telemarketer's carrier makes this available. The caller ID regulations give
telemarketers flexibility in determining what telephone numbers to transmit,
and in determining whether the name of the telemarketer, or the name of the
seller or charity, is displayed on caller ID services.
Scofflaws
Not all businesses abide by the these caller ID
requirements, however, as seen in recent FTC cases that charge telemarketers
pitching fraudulent extended auto warranties and credit card interest rate
reduction programs with violating the caller ID requirements.
Since 2005, the FTC has initiated 10 enforcement actions
that charge abusive telemarketers with concealing their identities from
consumers. "Spoofing" or manipulating caller ID names and numbers could become
more common as telemarketers increasingly use advanced telecommunications
technologies.
The FTC's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking does not put
forward a specific plan for strengthening the Telemarketing Sales Rule's caller
ID provisions. Instead, it provides information on how caller ID services work,
and explains how the benefits of these services are undermined when
telemarketers use technology to block transmission of caller ID, to transmit
false information, or to transmit a telephone number or name that does not clearly
identify the source of the call.
The agency is seeking comments on a range of caller
ID-related questions to help inform its understanding of this issue, including:
- How widespread is consumer use of caller ID services to screen unwanted calls, and do consumers use other services that rely on the transmission of calling party numbers (CPN), such as call-blocking equipment, to avoid unwelcome telemarketing calls?
- Would changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule improve the ability of caller ID services to disclose accurately the source of telemarketing calls or improve the ability of service providers to block calls in which information on the source of the call is not available, or has been spoofed?
- Should the FTC amend the caller ID provisions of the rule to recognize or anticipate specific developments in telecommunications technologies relating to the transmission and use of caller ID information, and if so, how?
- Should the FTC amend the caller ID provisions of the rule to further specify the characteristics of the phone number that a telemarketer must transmit to a caller ID service? For example, should the rule require that the phone number transmitted be one that is listed in publicly available phone directories, a number with an area code and prefix that are associated with the physical location of the telemarketer's place of business, a number that is answered by a live representative, or automated service that identifies the telemarketer by name?
- Should the FTC amend the caller ID provisions to allow a seller or telemarketer to use trade names or product names, rather than the actual name of the seller or telemarketer, in the name information displayed by caller ID services?
Comments submitted in response to the questions in the notice must be received by January 28, 2010. Comments can be submitted here. All comments received will be posted.
