Canada's National Do Not Call List is going live on September 30, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced on Wednesday (itBusiness.ca). If you're sick of giving lame excuses to telemarketers (as opposed to yelling at them or slamming down the receiver like they do in more enlightened countries), relief is coming.
Of course, for some businesses reliant on telemarketing that are just trying to stay solvent in a tough economy, this could be a bit of a kick in the teeth. Bell Canada has provided a video to educate everyone concerned on the new rules, so everyone's on the same page.
There are also some pretty big gaping exemptions to the new list, according to the CRTC: "Consumers may still receive calls from registered charities, political parties, and newspapers seeking subscriptions. Companies with whom a consumer has an existing business relationship will still be able to call, as well as those conducting surveys."
So... who exactly is going to stop interrupting my dinner? With that many exemptions, this may not cut the number of telemarketing calls all that much. Still, it is a step in the right direction.
Now, an enforceable no-spam list with heavy penalties would be even better...
Just took an informal poll in the office- seems most of us here are inconvenienced by the newspaper calls and the charity drives. No use getting TOO excited about the No Call List, hey?
Interesting sidebar to the story: the CRTC selected Bell Canada (as Bell Globe Media, one of the big media companies monopolizing Canada, and owners of several newspapers) to handle the no call list. And for a minute there, I wondered why newspapers were on the list of exemptions. Bell was apparently the only bidder that met the criteria.
SRC: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2007/r071221.htm
