Unwanted advertising comes in many forms and as technology expands, new avenues have become available to advertisers.
With the recent surge in cellular phone and e-mail usage, advertising is no longer limited to landline telephones.
After decades of unwanted phone calls received during dinnertime, the Federal Trade Commission opened up a National Do-Not-Call Registry in 2003 in accordance with the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act which made it illegal for telemarketers to call people who signed up for the registry.
Five years after the creation of this registry, the list comprises 149 million Americans who may find themselves once again receiving marketing calls again as early as summer 2008, when the list is set to expire.
People who wish to continue the service will have to re-register once the list expires.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, people may take their names off the list at any time they choose.
Lynn LoPucki, a professor of law at UCLA, said the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act was passed after public demand for it, and telemarketers were the primary group opposed to it.
LoPucki said he believes the Do-Not-Call Registry had less of an impact than most people expected because exceptions created loopholes.
He said it is still legal for people to receive calls from telemarketing companies with whom they are doing business and from people who aren’t marketing anything, including those doing marketing studies, political campaigns and charities.
“You can still be sitting there having dinner and getting lots of calls,” LoPucki said.
E-mail spam is another form of unwanted advertising, and laws have been passed to address this issue.
LoPucki said under California law, e-mails being sent out need to have a physical e-mail address attached to them, which people can view before they open them.
But he said the problem with such a law is the difficulty in enforcing it.
LoPucki said people can hang up their phones or get caller ID to screen unwanted calls.
“In theory, you should be able to block calls from particular numbers and you should be able to block calls that are not self-identifying as to their number,” he said.
But some students said they believe the solution is not as simple as hanging up, because they get charged for the unwanted calls they receive.
Unwanted calls are not received just on landline phones, but on cellular phones as well.
Deborah Scatterday, a second-year communication studies student, said she believes telemarketing calls on cell phones can be more intrusive than calls on landlines.
“On your landline you expect telemarketers, but for your cell phone, you have to pay for those calls and it interrupts your daily life,” she said. “I think that’s the reason why people started using cell phones more often.”
Geoff Mordock, an AT&T spokesperson, said telemarketing to cell phones is illegal based on the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, and he believes companies are using automated dialing systems, which randomly and sequentially dial phone numbers, and pre-recorded messages.
Mordock said when people are charged for unwanted telemarketing calls and texts they receive on their cell phones, they should call AT&T immediately to let them know about it.
“We’re happy to review individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
Cell phone companies such as Cingular Wireless, now part of AT&T, have taken legal action against telemarketing companies.
Scatterday said she believes measures should be put in place to make telemarketing calls illegal permanently.
But LoPucki said although permanently making it unlawful for telemarketers to make unwanted calls could probably be done, a lot of changes can occur in the five years before the Do-Not-Call Registry expires and the list may become obsolete anyway.
He said these include changes in telephone numbers, addresses and preferences regarding calls.
Scatterday said she believes telemarketing is not an effective way of advertising.
“It’s not an effective way of advertising at all because it’s more frustrating than anything,” she said. “It just causes resentment when you’re constantly being barraged.”
She said she believes a more effective way for companies to advertise is to use a medium which is not as invasive.
Tung Dao, a first-year aerospace engineering student, said he thinks regulations on calls should have a limit.
Dao said people should have the option to choose which kind of telemarketing calls they want, as well as the option to block them altogether.
Dao said he believes the laws should be fair to both sides and that sometimes consumers want certain kinds of advertising.
“For example, if you want certain kinds of products to be advertised to you, those should be able to go through as opposed to just blocking everything or blocking nothing.”
Dao said he tries to protect his information by signing up for only the things he wants to receive.
“I don’t sign up for those annoying banners that ask you to participate in some program and get free stuff,” he said. “I suppose that’s one of the sources where people get spam.”