The 'no-call' list

The 'no-call' list
PUC's proposal would strengthen the law

August 30, 2001

In one of its most popular acts of recent years, the Colorado Legislature passed – and Gov. Bill Owens signed – a law creating a "no-call list" that telemarketers are required to respect. It is hardly a complete solution to the problem of unwanted telephone solicitations, but it is a start. And, Southwest Colorado has reason to be proud of its role in the process.

State Rep. Mark Larson was instrumental in getting a no-call law enacted. First, he sponsored a bill to that effect. It was killed in a bitter fight with the speaker of the House, but in the process generated a considerable amount of public interest. He then cosponsored the measure that did pass.

Putting it into place is now falls to the Public Utilities Commission, the newest member of which is Southwest Colorado’s Jim Dyer, who represented this area in both the state House and Senate.

Taken together, their efforts may mean we can enjoy our dinners in peace.

Given that getting even such a modest measure was so difficult, it is understandable that any effort to modify the planned implementation of the no-call list arouses suspicions. What is happening, however, is to the good.

The PUC has recognized five areas in which its regulatory powers can reinforce the law:

It is proposing that the law be interpreted to include wireless phones.
It wants to look into alternatives to what seems to be the requirement that complaints be filed only via the Internet. (The law says phone customers can sign up for the no-call list either on the Net or by phone.)
The law allows businesses to call customers with whom they have a voluntary established business relationship. The PUC questions whether, given the monopoly nature of local phone service, simply having a telephone constitutes a voluntary relationship.
The PUC would require local phone companies to notify their customers about the no-call list once a year.
And, the commission wants to add to its no-call list all the names already signed up on the unofficial no-call list established by the Bighorn Center.

The PUC is on the right track. These are sensible proposals, clearly in line with what the public wants.

Dyer says the Legislature should have done it right the first time. In that it did not, however, he and the other members of the PUC should be commended for their efforts.