The actions, brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the FTC's behalf, are against companies ranging from adjustable bed sellers to alarm-monitoring providers and lenders, and bring to 34 the number of cases filed by the FTC to enforce the DNC Rule, which was implemented in 2003. To date, more consumers have put more than 145 million numbers on the Registry, indicating they do not want to receive calls from telemarketers at home.
"Consumers have made clear that they greatly value the Do Not Call Registry, and they must be able to depend on its privacy protection," said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. "By bringing enforcement actions, like those announced today, we will ensure that the small number of bad actors pay a price for not adhering to the law and respecting consumers' privacy requests."
Recognizing its importance to consumers, the FTC recently announced that it will not remove telephone numbers from the Registry, pending final Congressional or agency action regarding whether to make registration permanent.
Since the DNC Registry was established in 2003, the FTC and DOJ have filed 34 law enforcement actions against individuals and companies that allegedly have violated the Registry provisions. In total, the two agencies have collected more than $16 million in civil penalties as well as $8 million for consumer restitution or disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. DNC enforcement actions are part of the FTC's enforcement of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, under which the FTC has brought complaints and filed orders on behalf of consumers for more than 20 years.
