The federal Do Not Call Registry is getting a better turn out than the last presidential election and more of those who voted to stop telemarketing calls are happier with their choice than those who chose the current president.

A new Harris Poll, released Feb. 13 by Harris Interactive, "Do Not Call Registry Is Working Well," reveals more than half of all adults, 57 percent, say they've signed up for the federal do not call list and 53 percent of them say they've received far fewer telemarketing calls than before and 25 percent say they have received none.

Only 51.3 percent of registered voters went to the polls in 2000 during the last presidential election and Harris Poll's latest job rating for President Bush, revealed only 51 percent approved of the job he's doing.

"In my experience, these results are remarkable. It is rare to find so many people benefit so quickly from a relatively inexpensive government program. This successful initiative now raises more questions about the desirability of 'do not spam' legislation when, according to other surveys by Harris Interactive, the overwhelming majority of those online find spam very annoying," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of the Harris Poll.

Taylor was referring, of course, to the Do Not Call poll, not to Bush's approval rating.

The Do Not Call Registry poll was conducted online in the U.S. between January 19 and 28, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 3,378 adults. The survey has a statistical precision of plus or minus three percentage points, Harris reported.

The poll results were issued just days before an appeals court found that households' right to privacy supersedes the right to free speech when it comes to telemarketing.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said Feb. 17 in a 51-page order that the registry is "a valid commercial speech regulation ... because it directly advances substantial governmental interests and is narrowly tailored ... the registry fees telemarketers must pay to access the list are a permissible measure designed to defray the cost of legitimate government regulation ... it was not arbitrary and capricious for the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to adopt the established business relationship exception ... and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has statutory authority to establish and implement the national do-not-call registry."

Some 56 million phone numbers are listed on the federal Do Not Call Registry, which is expected to eventually hold 60 million phone numbers.

The registry allows households and others to include their telephone number on a list that's sold to telemarketers who must, in turn, not call those numbers for five years. Telephone number owners can relist their numbers with the registry at the end of five years.

Violators can be fined $11,000 for each illegal call.

The Harris Poll also found greater awareness about the federal do not call registry and greater participation since it launched late last year.

The share of adults who have heard of the registry has increased from 71 percent last September to 91 percent. The share of adults who claim to have signed up increased from 32 percent to 57 percent.

Published: February 19, 2004

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.