[CLUE-Talk] Colorado's No-Call List

[jbrockmeier at earthlink.net]

On Sat, 11 May 2002, Jeffery Cann wrote:

> On Friday 10 May 2002 11:03 pm, David Anselmi wrote:
> 
> > Seems we are hanging our hopes for a better life on a mighty fine thread.
> > Does anyone else think this is nonsense?
> 
> Yes, complete and utter.  But isn't that the difference of a compromise -- 
> neither side likes the result?
> 
> Compromise is one of the side-effects of a free society.  I am more happy 
> with this than a total ban on telemarketing, because this would be unfair to 
> businesses that use it (even though I do not like the business practice).

How is it unfair to refuse a business the "right" to tresspass
on my property? Since I pay for my phone line, I consider
it my right to refuse anyone the right to call me. Businesses
should have to explicitly get the permission (opt-in) to call
individuals - not require that they opt-out.  

A free society should also have the right to decide that the
majority of people don't want to tolerate a certain type of 
intrusion. The old expression "your rights end where mine begin"
is very applicable here. I don't see any problem with a complete
and total ban on telemarketing, and would whole-heartedly support
it. If a business can only survive by using parasitic business
practices, then goodbye and good riddance.      
 
> A ban would set a bad precedence, because soon there would be 'justification' 
> to ban other types of (unpopular) businesses.  This is just like banning a 
> unpopular literature or speech.  It's a bad idea because not everyone is 
> offended.  It's a slippery slope.

This is very unlike banning speech. A business has a right to 
promote its services through advertising in broadcast and print
mediums, or on its own premises or through direct mail. I don't
see how this would lead to banning any other business that 
does not depend on trespassing on services that I pay for.  

Unpopular literature sits on the bookstore shelf or in the library
waiting for someone to come pick it up. No one ties you to a 
chair and forces you to read it, or even comes to your door and
tries to persuade you to read it. (You may have friends who try
to persuade you to read unpopular books, but that's another
story...) Unpopular speech is something you may have to tolerate
in public, but not in your own home.   
 
> Although most people do not like telemarketing, businesses continue to do it 
> because a large enough portion of Americans continue to purchase things from 
> unsolicited phone calles.  If folks would stop buying stuff, the 
> telemarketing industry would die on the vine.

Unfortunately "large enough" is a very, very small percentage. 
Because telemarketing is so cheap (like spamming) it doesn't
require a large number of people to respond for it to be 
considered effective. Particularly when businesses use those
damn auto-dialers. I'm guessing the percentage of response is 
somewhere under the percentage for direct mail, which is much 
more expensive.  

-- 
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier -=- jbrockmeier at earthlink.net
http://www.DissociatedPress.net/
ymessenger: jbrockmeier / AIM: ZonkerJoe
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off 
their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more." - Mark Twain