A federal court upheld the constitutionality of the National Do Not Call Registry on Feb. 17, finally settling a legal battle over the list’s enforcement and leaving the popular registry in place for the 57.2 million registered.
And although green industry business is not heavily driven by telephone sales, some lawn care companies may be impacted by the ruling. According to a Lawn & Landscape Online poll, nearly 71 percent of those polled said they have never used telemarketing to secure new accounts. However, some lawn care companies do rely on telemarketing to grow their customer base. Almost 22 percent of those polled said they had, at some point, resorted to telemarketing methods for new sales – and half of that group said they still use the telephone technique to seek sales.guidelines. The do-not-call list, effective since October, prohibits companies from calling phone numbers registered on the list.
In a 51-page decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit deemed the list constitutional and said it “directly advances the government’s important interests in safeguarding personal privacy and reducing the danger of telemarketing abuse.”
Companies pitching goods and services had challenged the constitutionality of exempting political and charitable organizations from having to meet registry requirements.
So, at least a handful of industry professionals could find themselves hunting for new marketing tactics – sans phone.
Other state cases around the country remain. (Serwin is representing the industry in a legal challenge to California’s law.) But the 10th Circuit Court case, which consolidated four cases, became the cornerstone of the legal battle over the national do-not-call list.
Challenges to the legality of the list, jointly administered by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, delayed the effective date and threatened to derail it. It proved hugely popular with consumers, besieged by an estimated 60 million telemarketing calls daily.
The decision “represents a major victory for American consumers,” FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said in a statement. “In upholding the constitutionality of the National Do Not Call Registry, the court has made it clear that the FTC and FCC can and will continue to protect consumers' privacy at home.”
Compliance so far has been strong, according to the FTC. Despite the heavy volume of calls made daily into homes, the agency logged just 150,000 complaints in 2003.
The Direct Marketing Association, a defendant in the case and the lead trade association for telemarketers, says it will consider whether to have the court review its decision, appeal the decision to the Supreme Court or “drop the whole thing,” says Bob Wientzen, DMA president and CEO. “We're questioning whether there are grounds for reconsideration or an appeal.”
Defendants in the case have 90 days to appeal the decision, Serwin says.
“It is an issue that most circuit courts will have to grapple with unless or until the Supreme Court steps in.”
Source: USA Today and Lawn & Landscape Online
