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The FTC has announced new fees starting on October 1, 2009, for telemarketers accessing phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. All telemarketers making calls to consumers in the United States are required to download the numbers on the Do Not Call list to ensure they do not call consumers who have registered their phone numbers. The first five area codes are free, and organizations that are exempt from the Do Not Call rules, such as some charitable organizations, may obtain the entire list for free. Telemarketers must subscribe each year for access to the Registry numbers.

The access fees for fiscal year 2010 (from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010) are based on the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007. Under the Act’s provisions, in fiscal year 2010, telemarketers will pay $55 for access to Registry phone numbers in a single area code, up to a maximum charge of $15,058 for all area codes nationwide. Telemarketers will pay $27 per area code for numbers they subscribe to receive during the second half of the 12-month subscription period.

The Commission vote authorizing publication of the Federal Register notice announcing the new fees was 4-0. It can be found at http://www.ftc.gov//os/2009/08/P034305frnotice.pdf on the FTC’s Web site and as a link to this press release. (FTC File No. P034305; the staff contact is Kelly A. Horne, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3031; see related press release dated April 10 2008, at http://www2.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.

(FYI 41.2009.wpd)