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Stopping those automated calls

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Illinois

Like any technology, political pros will squeeze it for all that it’s worth until it’s not worth all that much. In Indiana, somebody is finally saying “No” to automated calling.

Hoosiers have received the calls for years â€“ automated, prerecorded telephone messages extolling the virtues of one candidate, attacking the credibility of another or simply urging voters to go to the polls.

But Attorney General Steve Carter has sent letters warning the major political parties â€“ as well as state and congressional candidates â€“ that these calls are illegal under a 1988 state law.

â€œPeople are becoming increasingly frustrated by calls that donâ€™t identify the caller, donâ€™t identify who is behind the message and donâ€™t give the consumer on the other end the chance to decline,â€ he said. â€œThese practices violate Indiana law, are intrusive and will be pursued.â€

The automatic dialing law is separate from the stateâ€™s popular do-not-call list, and specifically outlaws the use of machines to select and dial numbers with prerecorded messages.

The only way they can be used is if a live person initiates the call and receives consent from the person to play the message. Also, banks of volunteers can continue delivering the whole message live.

[Hat tip: Governing.com]

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 1:01 pm

Comments

I sit the fence on this one. I certainly hate unsolicated calls, but I work for a community college and we use an automated system for many things like class cancellations, billing issues, etc. I think there are still many ways in which the automated systems can be used… So I think I would be against Illinois employing a similar law. But hopefully Indiana enjoys it.

Comment by Robbie Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 1:18 pm
The difference is whether you “opt in” for the calls. At my daughter’s school, you choose to receive the automated calls. I never authorized political calls.

Comment by Anon sequitur Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 1:53 pm
Does anyone think that these calls for political candidates really work to obtain votes or clearly send a message? I’ve received these calls for all sorts of things and simply hang up once I discovered it was automated. Just wondering if anyone thinks these calls work?

Comment by anon Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 2:00 pm
“and donâ€™t give the consumer on the other end the chance to decline”

Doesn’t the receiver have the option to opt out by hanging up?

Comment by Capt. Caveman Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 2:06 pm
I would think that putting the headset back in the cradle of the phone about 2 secs after realizing it is a recording, and walking away, would stop the call. Of course, if you feel guilty you could wait until the message says you can hang up. Your choice.

Comment by zatoichi Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 2:20 pm
Unsolicited messages are junk. Broadcasting junk in the form of telephone calls, mail or television ads is a waste of money. Thinking voters don’t choose candidates based on any of these obsolete 20th Century technologies.

Political “pros” that encourage junk messages are not worth the money they are paid.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 2:29 pm
Contrary to what popular and anecdotal comments suggest, these calls DO work as does advertising. I, too, hang up immediately when I get an automated call…but it is a serious mistake to extrapolate how everybody behaves based on how you (or even how you and your friends) react. I am not guessing about this. Poll before such tactics are used and poll after and you see clearly that they work - and work profoundly. That is not to say that you can say just anything you want and get it across…but a well-designed targeted message can have a very profound impact.

One of my rules of thumb is that just because people are complaining about something does not mean it worked - but if you aren’t getting a good chunk of complaints, it definitely did not work.

Comment by charlie johnston Tuesday, Sep 5, 06 @ 5:18 pm
During the last campaign I ran, every time our opponents ran robocalls, we got calls from our supporters who not only reported that fact, but were able to give us the message they heard. When they stay on the line, they pay attention.

A lot of people do listen to them all the way through especially on races they are interested in. And more importantly, the message ends up on a lot of answering machines.

What is annoying is not these type of telephone calls which can simply be hung up on. What is annoying is the bombardment of dailing multiple daily e-mails from candidates.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Wednesday, Sep 6, 06 @ 7:01 am
Unlike tv ads — which you can turn off with one click of the remote — some of these phone calls will not allow you to hang up until you listen to the whole darn thing. They just keep ringing and force you to listen to the bitter end.

I was flooded with dozens of obnoxious robocalls during the primary, and I hated it.

If Bill Clinton wants me to vote for somebody, he can call me personally.

Comment by soccermom Wednesday, Sep 6, 06 @ 7:04 am