Telemarketers free to plague

AMERICAN legislators are seeking to rescue measures to control one of the scourges of modern life - telemarketing - after a court knocked down attempts to restrict unsolicited calls.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had drawn up a national 'do-not-call' list of some 50m numbers, submitted by households eager for quiet evenings.

The list had been due to go into effect on 1 October, backed by fines of $11,000 (£6627) for each violation.

But the move was challenged in the courts by the Direct Marketing Association and other sales groups, who feared that the clampdown could halve their sales.

Earlier this week a Federal judge in Oklahoma City sided with the marketers, saying the FTC had overstepped its authority when it enabled consumers to place their home and mobile phone numbers out of bounds.

While the FTC promised to appeal against the decision, action from Congress is likely to come much sooner with the two Bills due for votes by both houses of Congress on Thursday.

'If this decision is not reversed quickly, I suspect the courthouse in Oklahoma would want to add itself to the do-not-call database in order to protect itself from the millions of consumers who feel deeply about the right to be left alone by telemarketers,' said Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Republican.

More than 24 states already have popular do-not-call lists.