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If all these calls were to originate from the same person, I'd be able to get a restraining order. But since they come from an entire industry, Jim Harper says they must be accepted. This is apparently the price of freedom: A phone line that never stops ringing. Harper writes in response to my recent New York Times op-ed supporting a Federal Trade Commission proposal that would establish a national "do not call" list. If adopted, people could ask to have their names put on it and telemarketers would have to check their call lists against it. Weirdly, Harper argues that this voluntary FTC list would threaten consumer privacy — as if it even held a candle against the very real problem of the telemarketers' bazaar, where personal information about ordinary Americans is swapped and sold every day. But I didn't make a privacy argument in my Times piece; in fact, the word "privacy" doesn't even appear in it. Here's the nub of what I argued in the Times: "Libertarians like to say that my freedom ends where your nose begins. That classic aphorism needs a 21st century corollary: Your freedom ends where my phone line plugs in." Harper, on the other hand, seems to think my phone isn't my property — that I shouldn't have the right to hang the equivalent of a no-trespassing sign on it. He also explains that if people are fed up with unwelcome telemarketing phone calls, they can purchase gizmos and services that attempt to block them — he recommends something called TeleZapper. Others point to caller I.D. and unlisted numbers. There's something a bit grating about this: It's sort of like saying that if I were to spray paint graffiti on the side of Jim Harper's house, he could just go out and buy a quart of paint. Problem solved, right? Here is an excerpt from my op-ed:
This is the sign of an industry that has lost all sense of decency and self-restraint. Harper is unfortunately right about one thing: A "do not call" list would not put an end to telemarketing, because the FTC does not have jurisdiction over certain industries. But it would cut down on unwanted phone calls and also open the door to creating a more effective "do not call" list, perhaps run by the Federal Communications Commission. As it stands, the FTC's proposed "do not call" list is a reasonable attempt to alleviate a maddening problem. Readers who agree with me may be tempted to call Harper tonight and let him know what they think. But please, leave the guy alone — let's not be rude. |
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'll probably get one or two unwanted calls at home tonight from telemarketers
— maybe during dinner, my kids' story time, or, worst of all, during
a Stanley Cup playoff game. Over the course of a year, my wife and I must
answer the phone hundreds of times, only to discover that it isn't a relative,
friend, or even an innocent wrong call — but someone we don't know
trying to sell us something we don't want, and often assuming a faux familiarity
("How are you today, John?") that is at best impolite.
