When I first heard about the Canadian do-not-call list a few months ago, I was ecstatic. Finally, I thought, I would be able to get rid of the endless, annoying and constant telemarketing calls that put me past the point of frustration. At the time, I was getting around 2-3 calls per day. It was unbearable. So without thinking twice, I signed up.

For those of you who don’t know, the Canadian do-not-call list allows Canadians to decide whether or not to receive telemarketing calls. Signing up takes about 5 minutes, and upon doing so, a large portion of telemarketers will be forbidden from calling you. If they do, they can face up to a $15,000 fine.

But it’s not all that rosy.

Getting on the Canadian do-not-call list won’t end all telemarketing calls. There’s a long list of exceptions that can be viewed here. What’s even worse is that new studies are revealing that signing up for the list can actually increase the amount of telemarketing calls one receives.

In order for Canadian telemarketers to find out who they are not allowed to call, the list is available online for a small fee by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). But anyone can use false information pretending to be a telemarketer and download the entire list. Overseas telemarketers download the list, where there’s little that can be done as the CRTC has no jurisdiction outside of Canada, and use it to spam Canadians.

And to make matters worse, the CRTC isn’t doing much to correct the situation. Denis Carmel, a spokesman for the CRTC, said the commission is investigating the issue. “I cannot give you time lines. I cannot give you any other assurance. But we are aware of the situation and we are trying to assess how to respond,” he said. Seems like their on top of things…not.

I’d love to meet the genius that decided that the best way of notifying telemarketers of who they are not permitted to call was to put the list online, available to anyone with 10 minutes and a credit card. Such a system was designed to fail from the very beginning.

Personally, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in the number of telemarketing calls I’ve received since signing up for the list. But that doesn’t mean your phone number won’t be abused. Given the significant flaws of the current system, I’d only join if in a desperate situation like I was in. Otherwise, it’s just not worth the risk. I’d Wait for the CRTC to get their act together.

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Tags: canada, crtc, denis carmel, do not call list, telemarketers, telemarketing

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 1:40 am and is filed under Our Country. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.