www.DoNotCall.Gov
can not find web site?

Hi mike654321:

Just try it without the "www":

http://donotcall.gov/

I got through once and then not the second time. The site is probably
*very, very* busy since it was just launched today. You just need to
have patience and try a couple of times throughout the day.

Anti-Telemarketing List Opens for Registration
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20030627/tc_nm/telecoms_telemarketing_dc

Hope this helps. 

websearcher-ga

Search Strategy: none - I read the story this morning too. ;-)

---

Clarification of Answer by websearcher-ga on 27 Jun 2003 11:19 PDT

Hi mike654321:

Just to give you an idea of how great the response for this website
has been today:

370,000 Sign Up for Anti-Telemarketing List
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20030627/tc_nm/telecoms_telemarketing_dc

websearcher-ga

FYI, I registered at the site *twice* this morning.  They are supposed
to respond to me within a minute or so with an email allowing me to
complete the registration process.  But both time, the email failed to
arrive.  Looks like they may still have a few glitches to work out.

Short answer, http://donotcall.gov apparently is experiencing some
technical problem.  http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall is just as good.  Or,
you may have been luck with http://206.16.196.198, which is the IP
equivalent to http://donotcall.gov.

~~ Since ...

nic.gov, Government Domain Registration and Services, reports the
following whois query on dotnotcall.gov:

Currently, DONOTCALL.GOV is not available for registration.

Domain Name: DONOTCALL.GOV
Status: Active

That means donotcall.gov has been registered with the GSA.  However,
not being able to get anything back from the say can be of multiple
reasons.  For instance, the web page is not set up yet, the host or
the server is currently down, etc.

[http://www.nic.gov/whois.html]

~~ that leads me to ...

traceroute is "a utility that traces a packet from your computer to an
Internet host, showing how many hops the packet requires to reach the
host and how long each hop takes."
(http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/t/traceroute.html)  Tracing
206.16.196.198 from http://rr.netins.net/lg/lg.cgi, a Looking-Glass
traceroute gateway suggests intermittent problem with TTL, i.e.,
timeouts.  A successful traceroute results should look like the
following:

TTL LFT trace to 206.16.196.198:80/tcp 
1 [AS5056] ins-pp1.desm.netins.net (167.142.225.250) 0.6ms 
2 [AS5056] ins-core3-ether0-1.desm.netins.net (167.142.57.193) 0.3ms 
3 [AS5056] ins-core4-atm0-0.desm.netins.net (167.142.57.210) 0.4ms 
4 [ASN?] 12.124.129.113 11.9ms 
5 [ASN?] gbr6-p40.sl9mo.ip.att.net (12.123.25.30) 11.8ms 
6 [ASN?] tbr1-p013601.sl9mo.ip.att.net (12.122.11.109) 12.3ms 
7 [ASN?] tbr1-p012401.wswdc.ip.att.net (12.122.10.65) 28.9ms 
8 [ASN?] gbr6-p20.wswdc.ip.att.net (12.122.11.174) 28.2ms 
9 [ASN?] gar3-p370.wswdc.ip.att.net (12.123.9.69) 28.4ms 
10 [ASN?] mdf1-gsr12-1-pos-7-0.wdc1.attens.net (12.122.255.182) 29.1ms
11 [ASN?] mdf1-bi8k-2-eth-1-1.wdc1.attens.net (63.240.192.242) 45.4ms
12 [ASN?] [target] 206.16.196.198:80 521.5ms

To ease your minds about getting through today, the first day the sign
up is available, the government will be compiling its initial list for
months. People who sign up today will not be on the published list any
sooner than someone who signs up 6 weeks from now. So, just be patient
and we will all be on the list given to telemarketers this Fall.  By
the way, I live in PA where we already have a do not call list and I
have not received a telemarketing call for over 7 months now. It
works!

right on, research_help! PA rocks!

Also, if you are already registered in PA, you DO NOT need to register
again with the Federal Do Not Call registry to be protected.  From
http://www.nocallsplease.com/index.cfm?page=faqfdnc:

Federal and State Do Not Call Registries: Consumer FAQ

1. If I am registered on Pennsylvania’s list, do I need to re-register
on the federal no call list?

NO. If you are enrolled on Pennsylvania’s Do Not Call list, then you
are currently protected from unwanted telemarketing calls. The new
federal list will mirror Pennsylvania’s existing law in terms of who
can and cannot call you.

Also, for PA residents who want to avoid telemarketers from calling
your cell phone, you will need to register that number with the
Federal registry because currrent PA law is not provisioned to protect
that (http://www.nocallsplease.com/index.cfm?page=faqfdnc):

3. Can I register my wireless telephone number?

YES. You can register your wireless phone number with the federal no
call registry. There is legislation pending in Pennsylvania that would
allow you to register your wireless phone on the state Do Not Call
list.

Something of which anyone who is thinking of enrolling in a "Do Not
Call" list should be aware:

The so-called "non-profit" administrator for this service is the
Direct Marketing Association, a cooperative to which most junk mail
and telemarketing companies have a membership, and whose mission is to
help junk mail and telemarketers improve their business!
http://www.nocallsplease.com/index.cfm?page=listadmin

Notice the list of Exhibitors for the DMA's Annual Conference. It
includes such notable computer spyware/adware companies as:
Abacus, a division of DoubleClick
DirectQlick.com
KnowledgeBase 

Then there are the Credit Reporting Agencies
ChoicePoint (Equifax)
Experian

Then there's
Telematch/Gannett Direct Marketing
a company that matches up names and addresses in junk mail and
telemarketing databases so that they can put together a more
comprehensive picture of you and your habits in buying and purchasing.

http://www.databasemarketingconference.com/ar/exhibitions_exhibitor_list_26/index.htm


When you give the DMA your name and phone number, that information
gets disseminated to ALL of the DMA member companies. Now
**thousands** of companies have your name and phone number. Yes,
they're supposed to use that list to make sure that you don't get
phone calls from them. But they can also use that list to match up
your name and telephone number to any other information they already
have on you in their database. They DON'T remove your name and
telephone number, or any of your other information, from their
database.

Similarly, if you ask the DMA to put you on the "do not mail" list
http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglistdave
your information goes straight into the member companies' databases
and NEVER gets deleted. They just try to make sure that they don't
mail you anything, but they can still use your information for other
purposes.

I know this, because I used to be a programmer who maintained "client"
databases for one of the direct marketing database companies.
Depending on what information about you has become available over the
years, these companies have your name, your maiden name, your last 3
addresses, your last 2 or 3 employers, your income level, the names
and ages of your children, what companies you have credit cards with,
your social security number, all the magazines to which you've ever
subscribed, products you've bought through catalogs or offers in the
mail, and the list goes on and on.

Have you ever filled out a Polk Directory "survey" about yourself?
Have you ever filled out one of those "tell us about your hobbies and
the products you buy and we'll send you free coupons" surveys? That
information goes straight into these companies' databases, and they
sell it to each other or trade it with each other.

NONE of this information EVER gets deleted. These companies just
develop ever-bigger files of information on you.

The other problem with the "Do Not Mail" list is that you will no
longer receive the catalogs from businesses that you WANT to receive,
either.

So, unless junk mail and telemarketing calls arrive at a rate of
several of each every day, instead of putting yourself on the "Do Not
Call" and "Do Not Mail" lists, I recommend that you handle junk mail
and telemarketing calls on an individual basis.

For telemarketing calls, keep a log:
- Get the name of the company
- and the name of the caller, if you can
- write down the date and time
- and if you have Caller ID, the calling number

Ask the caller to please remove you permanently from their calling
list. By law, they are required to comply. If they call you again
anyway, tell them that you have already requested permanent removal
from their calling list, and that their company can be prosecuted for
calling you again (and be sure to log that call, as well). If they
call you again, follow the procedures to get them prosecuted for
failure to follow the "Do Not Call" law.


For junk mail (you may want to keep a log for this, too):
- use a black magic marker to cross through the check box and the
verbiage "YES! Enroll me in the Worthless Item of the Month Club
today!" or whatevever the acceptance text for the offer is.
- use the black magic marker to cross through any bar code on the
offer page.
- write "Please Remove Me Permanently From Your Database" on the offer
page.
- DON'T fill out any of the blanks requesting information.
- DON'T sign your name; they can use this as proof that you wanted to
take them up on your offer.
Then stick the offer page back in their postage-paid envelope and mail
it to them. They will have to pay for the privilege of receiving your
"Do Not Mail" request, which they are required by law to honor. If
they did not provide you with a postage-paid envelope, you can either
pay for a stamp to send them your request, or you can use their 800
number (if one is provided; they will have to pay a fee for that,
too!) to let them know that they need to put you on their "Do Not
Mail" list.

It took a few months, but using these methods, I was able eliminate
virtually ALL but an occasional junk mailing and telemarketing call,
while still receiving the catalogs, magazines, and direct mail offers
that I want to receive.

Regards,

aceresearcher

I would just like to point out that the information provided in the
comment by aceresearcher-ga is, in fact, incorrect. The manager of the
do not call list is the Federal Trade Commision.  The telemarketers,
who may be members of the Direct Marketing Association, must purchase
the list of deleted phone numbers every 3 months to update their
records.  The telemarketers will not receive any information about you
- not your name, not your address, nothing except the phone number. 
If you would like to read the document prepared by the FTC on this
subject, you can find it at
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dncalrt.pdf

Please ignore the erroneous information in the comment by
aceresearcher-ga. As he/she mentions, you can ask to be removed on a
per call basis for each telemarketing call you receive, but that will
only take you off of 1 list out of thousands / millions of lists. You
would have to receive a thousand calls and ask to be removed a
thousand times to be removed from a thousand lists. The Do Not Call
registry will take care of all but a few such as charities or
companies you already do business with.

While the National "Do Not Call" list asks for only your telephone
number and e-mail address, the "Do Not Call" lists for numerous states
are run through the Direct Marketing Association, and require you to
provide your name and address in order to be added to the list.

"The Office of [Pennsylvania's] Attorney General is pleased to
announce that we have contracted with the Direct Marketing
Association, a nonprofit organization, who will act as the list
administrator. DMA will update the list and distribute it to
telemarketers on a quarterly basis."
http://www.nocallsplease.com/index.cfm?page=listadmin 

"Q: How can I obtain CT’s [Connecticut's] No Call List?
A: From the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).  Visit the following
website http://preference.the-dma.org  Print out and mail or fax the
Telephone Preference Service (TPS) subscription agreement to:
            Preference Services Manager
Direct Marketing Association, Inc. (DMA)
1120 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York  10036-6700"
http://www.state.ct.us/dcp/nocallFAQ.htm#faqcons

"The Maine Attorney General has created a web page to enter
information to have your name and telephone number placed on a
telemarketer "Do Not Call" list. By putting your information on the
list, the Direct Marketing Association will add you to their database
which is distributed to telemarketing companies."
http://www.state.me.us/pfr/ccp/ccp_do_not_call.htm

"The Wyoming "No-Call" Law Consumers' FAQ's 
1. What is it? 
The "No-Call" law requires most telemarketers to refrain from calling
residential or wire-less telephone or pager numbers that have been
enrolled in the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Telephone
Preference Service (TPS). The law also requires telemarketers to
disclose the purpose of the call (to sell something) and to identify
the business on whose behalf they are calling."
http://attorneygeneral.state.wy.us/nocallC.htm

"Texas Implementation of HB 472 and "Do Not Call" List...
The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a free consumer service
sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association. Write to TPS to be
placed on a national "do not call" list, effective for 5 years. This
will not stop all calls, but will help reduce the number of
solicitation calls you receive.
Write to:
Telephone Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014
For more information about this service, go directly to the TPA
website:
http://www.the-dma.org/consumers/offtelephonelist.html"
http://www.puc.state.tx.us/ocp/telephone/telemark.cfm

"Getting On The [Vermont] Do-Not-Call List...
The TPS site ( http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offtelephonedave )
explains how the Telephone Preference Service works, along with
providing a form that allows you to add your name to this list.
http://www.sec.state.vt.us/tutor/dobiz/forms/teleinfo.htm

"DMA's Telephone Preference Service (TPS)...
Fields marked with an asterisk(*) are required
First Name*:    
Middle Name:   
Last Name*:    
Address*:    
Apartment:   
City*:    
State*:  
Zip/Postal Code*:    
Email:   
Enter up to 2 phone numbers for inclusion in the do-not-call file; one
is required:
Telephone*:   
Telephone:  "
http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offtelephonedave

Just to be clear, we are talking about a national do not call list.
Perhaps aceresearcher-ga is not aware, but the FTC is creating a
national list of phone numbers that may not be called by most
telemarketers.  This is a completely separate initiative from the
state run lists that have been started already in many states.
As a side note, the information provided about the state lists happens
to be incorrect as well.  I know from personal experience that when I
signed up for the PA no call list, I was not asked to provide any
information other than my telephone number.

Warning! The website is unsecure. You are allowed to unregister any
phone number you want. Don't believe me? Try it. Go to the website and
unregister ANY phone number using your email address. Then check your
email and click on the "unregister" link provided. Didn't you wonder
why you were not asked for or assigned a username and password? Now
you know. If a small town unemployed internet programmer from SE
Michigan can find this flaw, imagine what a saavy hacker can do with
the millions of email and phone numbers stored in this "secure"
database.
Scares the hell out of me. Should scare the hell out of you too. If I
were a telemarketer, all I needed to do was go online and take your
number off the registry before I called you. Then what could you do to
me? You have no proof anymore.
Please help me get this changed. I have tried networks, congressman,
TV stations, the FCC and FTC as well as the webmasters of the
donotcall.gov site themselves - and noone is listening. Maybe your
voice can be heard over mine.