National "Do not call" lists stops some but not all unwanted calls
BY: ROBERT N. BREWER, JR.

Georgia consumers can sign up for the national do-notcall registry. Registration on the national list for five years is free. If you do not want to put your number on the registry, you can still prohibit telemarketers from calling by contacting each one individually and asking them to stop contacting you.

Listing on the national donot call registry stops most, but not all, telemarketing calls. Political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, and companies with which you have an existing relationship can still call.

Telemarketers calling to solicit charitable contributions are not covered by the registry and may still call. If you make a request to a specific charitable organization that they not call you, they are required to honor your request. If they call you again, they may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000.

Even if you are on the national do-not-call registry, a company with which you have an established business relationship may call you for up to 18 months after your last purchase or delivery from it, or your last payment to it, unless you ask the company not to call again. If you request not to be called and they subsequently call you again, they may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000.

If you make an inquiry or submit an application to a company, for three months afterwards the company can call you. If you make a specific request to that company not to call you, however, then the company may not call you, even if you have an established business relationship with that company.

You can register online for the national do-not-call registry. Visit http://www.donotcall. gov/ and follow the instructions. You can register up to three numbers at one time. If you have more than three personal telephone numbers, you will have to go through the registration process more than once to register all of your numbers. You must provide an e-mail address to register. Minutes after registering, you should receive e-mails with additional instructions. Be sure to click on the links provided within 72 hours to confirm your registration.

You can only register one phone number each time you call the national do-not-call registry at 1-888-382-1222; for TTY, call 1-866-290-4236. You must call from the phone number you wish to register. Consumers who register for the do-not-call registry should notice a reduction in telemarketing calls after 31 days.