Realty Times - Telemarketers Toned Down, Will E-Mail Be Next?

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Telemarketers Toned Down, Will E-Mail Be Next?

by Peter G. Miller

It was a few weeks ago that the call came through. "Do you own that property by the shopping center? Would you like to sell?"

Such calls are the type that every property owner likes to receive, at least for the sake of curiosity. But, I'm not clear that such calls will be legal much longer. It was, after all, an unsolicited cold call made to a phone number which could very well be on a state or federal "do-not-call" list. After October, someone making an unsolicited call to a do-no-call number might face a federal fine of as much as $11,000.

The new Federal Trade Commission do-not-call program has gotten off to an early start, a program which will plainly impact real estate when it becomes fully effective in October.

If you're in real estate you're covered by the new federal rules and should be concerned. As the National Association of Realtors explains, "all real estate professionals now must comply with the requirements of the National Do Not Call Registry, regardless of state law exemptions. Earlier NAR communications and policy briefs maintained that unless real estate licensees were calling across state lines, compliance with the federal law was not necessary and instructed members to adhere to state law requirements. This latest action by the FCC reverses this interpretation."

The FTC action is in response to overwhelming public sentiment. Telemarketing is not the nation's most-loved profession, thus the overwhelming support for the FTC do-not-call program.

You can see where this argument will pop-up next. Few people object to an ad sent by e-mail. It's the huge volume which is obnoxious, time-consuming and costly -- as well as the missives which include fraud and viruses.

The difficulty here is that each time we hobble a form of communication we make it harder for new companies to compete with established ones. Less communication also means less competition generally, a good way to make goods and services more expensive.

Even in the FTC do-not-call program there are exceptions for "established" relationships, which means that new companies without existing customer lists are at a competitive disadvantage. Is it any wonder large companies are stepping forward "in the public interest" to support limits on telemarketing?

The catch is that no one cares. Worries about small companies and new businesses are abstract matters compared with the real irritation created by many telemarketers.

But as we next move forward to the inevitable petitions seeking an end to "commercial" and "unsolicited" e-mail, there ought to be a pause.

Why? Because e-mail can be an enormously valuable medium. Let's have some perspective and recognize that commercial e-mail and spam are not the same.

After all, we don't ban advertising in newspapers or on radio and television. The concept of commercial messaging is not only accepted, it informs us and also gins up demand to produce new revenues and jobs -- things everyone should favor, especially at this time.

Spam should be banned. But spam is not every piece of e-mail. Spam, as defined here, means messages with:

Fake or stolen "from" addresses.

Coding that a sender purposely includes to place unwanted programming on your computer. Think of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and general "malware."

Coding that a sender purposely includes to gather information from your computer without your prior written permission -- the programs you use, the files you hold, registry information, address book names and information, etc. In other words, without express written permission in advance data-mining on recipient computers must be banned.

Content which would be illegal if sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

From all sources. The new FTC do-not-call rules do not apply to politicians, charities and survey takers. Anti-spam rules should apply to everyone.

"De-list" request links which do not work, are not honored or are used to collect recipient e-mail addresses and other information which is then sold, rented, or exchanged.

The standards above would get rid of 95 percent of the day's spam -- and still allow commercial e-mail.

The next question is: Do you want commercial e-mail? Think about it. You want to tell consumers about the products and services you offer. You want to start a new business. You want to know about alternative suppliers so there is greater competition and lower prices. And -- let's be honest -- some ads are interesting.

In terms of real estate you want to know about new listings down the street. You want to know about mortgage rates. You want to know about brokerages, home inspectors, title companies, and others. If your home is for sale, you'd sure like other people to know about it. As to me, I certainly want people to get in touch to see if a given piece of property might be for sale.

As a country we're smart enough to know the difference between "butter" and "margarine." We know that politicians who exclude themselves from do-not-call lists can be added to personal do-not-vote rosters. And we ought to be clever enough to see that commercial e-mail has value, spam does not and the two are not the same.

For more articles by Peter G. Miller, please press here.

Published: July 8, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

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Peter G. Miller, also known as OurBroker®, is the author of six real estate books -- including The Common-Sense Mortgage -- and is the original creator and host of America Online's Real Estate Center.

Peter's weekly columns appear in more than 100 newspapers nationwide, he is also published in a variety of other media outlets and he is a frequent speaker at national events and conventions.

Peter welcomes your questions, comments, and news releases via e-mail at .

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