U.S. District Judge Lee R. West ruled Tuesday in Oklahoma City that the "Do Not Call" list created by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission is unconstitutional.
The FTC began working on the list after over 64,000 citizens expressed interest this winter in blocking calls from telemarketers to their home and other telephone numbers.
"When over 64,000 people ask for this to be done, it really shows how much they want this," FTC spokesperson Jen Schwartzman said.
The FCC and FTC commenced registration in June and since have registered over 50 million people.
"We had a wildly successful first couple of months," Schwartzman said.
The FCC and FTC, along with state and local governments, planned to start enforcing the list Oct. 1.
The Telemarketing Sales Rule (FTC) and the Telephone Consumer Act (FCC) were created in order to enforce the list. The proposals would have blocked all telemarketing calls except surveys and calls from charitable and political organizations.
The FCC plans to appeal the decision, Schwartzman said.
"We will seek recourse to give Americans a choice to stop telemarketing calls," she said.
The Direct Marketing Association, a representative organization of telemarketing firms, originally filed a suit challenging the "Do Not Call" list.
University students said they find calls from telemarketers irritating.
"I feel like when telemarketers call, it's an unwanted call and they've violated my rights of privacy," fourth-year Engineering student Ashley Lewit said. "Each and every time they call me, I'm uninterested. If I was interested, I would call them and let them know if I was. They are nuisances and I say bring on the list."
Other students agreed they would like to have the list legally reinstated.
"It's annoying," fourth-year College student Kelli Martin said. "Only the people that they give their number to should be able to call -- when other people sell numbers to other companies for telemarketing, it just doesn't seem to protect privacy."
She added that she thought consumers had a right to regulate privately owned phones.
"Furthermore, it's a little ridiculous to tell someone that pays for a phone that they cannot decide who calls it and who doesn't," Martin said.
Other students had a more economic view of the list and its implications.
"Well I don't know much on the subject, but since it is a form of advertising and since so many people depend on it as a job it would be too drastic to eliminate telemarketing calls, especially considering the state of the economy," fourth-year College student Ajit Joseph said. "It would eliminate a lot of jobs and just worsen the situation."
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