We Provide Affordable N.Y. Legal Services For You
www.nylawonline.com - Harmon Legal Services P.C.

We Provide Affordable N.Y. Legal Services For You
www.nylawonline.com - Harmon Legal Services P.C.
1-877-283-5962  harmonlaw@optonline.net


  








                    





























WITH YOUR HELP WE CAN STOP OTO INC

PERMANENTLY AND PUNISH THEIR CLIENTS

FOR USING ILLEGAL TELEMARKETING PRACTICES






Federal Telecommunications Law

Background

Congress first passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 in response to consumer concerns about the growing number of unsolicited telephone marketing calls to their homes and the increasing use of automated and prerecorded messages. In response, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that require anyone making a telephone solicitation call to your home to provide his or her name, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which that person or entity can be contacted. The original rules also prohibit telephone solicitation calls to your home before 8 am or after 9 pm, and require telemarketers to comply with any do-not-call request you make directly to the caller during a solicitation call. In June 2003, the FCC supplemented its original rules implementing the TCPA and established, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the national Do-Not-Call list. Under the TCPA, there are two remedies. You can 1) file a complaint with the FCC or 2) you may bring a private lawsuit in state court if your state law allows it ( almost all do). Most people are unaware of the second remedy. Each violation causes $500 in liquidated damages to the receiver of the phone call. “Willfully or knowingly” violating the TCPA and FCC rules can result in treble damages ($1500). Commercial text messages also fall under the TCPA and FCC rules. These rules apply to the telemarketer and the company whose product is being sold: even if the telemarketer is an independent company. Pre-recorded and/or auto dialed calls to your cell phone are illegal unless you have given Prior express consent to be called on your cell phone.


(1) The National Do-Not-Call List

Once you have placed your home phone number or numbers, including any personal wireless phone numbers, on the national Do-Not-Call list, callers are prohibited from making telephone solicitations to those number(s). Your number or numbers will remain on the list until you remove them or discontinue service – there is no need to re-register numbers. Unless your cell and home phone number or numbers are registered on the national Do-Not-Call list, however, you must make a separate do-not-call request to each telemarketer from whom you do not wish to receive calls.

The national Do-Not-Call list protects home voice or personal wireless phone numbers only. While you may be able to register a business number, your registration will not make telephone solicitations to that number unlawful. Similarly, registering either a home or business fax number will not make sending a fax advertisement to that number unlawful, but the FCC has separate rules that prohibit unsolicited fax advertisements under most circumstances ( Contact me about these).

A telephone solicitation is a telephone call that acts as an advertisement. The term does not include calls or messages placed with your express prior permission, by or on behalf of a tax-exempt non-profit organization, or from a person or organization with which you have an established business relationship (EBR).

An EBR exists if you have made an inquiry, application, purchase, or transaction regarding products or services offered by the person or entity involved. Generally, you may put an end to that relationship by telling the person or entity not to place any more solicitation calls to your home. Additionally, the EBR is only in effect for 18 months after your last business transaction or three months after your last inquiry or application. After these time periods, calls placed to your home phone number or numbers by that person or entity are considered telephone solicitations subject to the do-not-call rules.
You have not consented to an EBR if you received an illegal telemarketing call, and you pretend to be interested. This is important because often the only way to find out who is placing the illegal calls is by responding to them.

(2) Company-Specific Do-Not-Call Lists

Whether or not your home phone number or numbers are registered on the national Do-Not-Call list, the FCC requires a person or entity placing voice telephone solicitations to your home to maintain a record of your direct request to that caller not to receive future telephone solicitations from that person or entity. The calling company must honor your do-not-call request for five years. To prevent calls after five years, you will need to repeat your request to the company, and it must honor it for another five years (and so on). Your request should also stop calls from affiliated entities if you would reasonably expect them to be included, given the identification of the caller and the product being advertised. Unless your home phone number or numbers are registered on the national Do-Not-Call list, however, you must make a separate do-not-call request to each telemarketer from whom you do not wish to receive calls.

When you receive telephone solicitation calls, clearly state that you want to be added to the caller’s do-not-call list. You may want to keep a list of those persons or businesses that you have asked not to call you. Tax-exempt non-profit organizations are not required to keep do-not-call lists. Also request a copy of the  company’s “Do Not Call” policy. When your phone call is finished go to the company’s website and get their e-mail address. E-mail them your request to be put on their “do not call list” and ask them to e-mail you a copy of their “do not call” policy with three weeks. They must send it to you. Print a copy of your e-mail; preferably after it has been sent.


(3) Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems and Artificial or Prerecorded Voice Calls

The FCC has specific rules for automatic telephone dialing systems, also known as “auto dialers.” These devices can be particularly annoying and generate many consumer complaints. The rules regarding automatically dialed and prerecorded calls apply whether or not you have registered your personal cell or home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list.
Auto dialers can produce, store, and dial telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator. They often place artificial (computerized) or prerecorded voice calls. The use of auto dialers, including predictive dialers, often results in abandoned calls – hang-ups or “dead air.” Except for emergency calls or calls made with the prior express consent of the person being called, auto dialers and any artificial or prerecorded voice messages may not be used to contact numbers assigned to:
a) any emergency telephone line;
b) the telephone line of any guest or patient room at a hospital, health care facility, home for the elderly, or similar establishment;
c) a paging service, wireless phone service (including both voice calls and text messages), or other commercial mobile radio service; or
d) any other service for which the person being called would be charged for the call.

Calls using artificial or pre-recorded voice messages – including those that do not use auto dialers – may not be made to home phone numbers except for:
a) emergency calls needed to ensure the consumer’s health and safety;
b) calls for which you have given prior express consent;
c) non-commercial calls;
d) calls that don’t include or introduce any unsolicited advertisements or constitute telephone solicitations;
e) calls by, or on behalf of, tax-exempt non-profit organizations; or
f) calls from entities with which you have a valid EBR.

In addition, the FCC’s rules prohibit the use of auto dialers in a way that ties up two or more lines of a multi-line business at the same time. All artificial or prerecorded telephone messages must state, at the beginning, the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for initiating the call. If a business is responsible for initiating the call, the name under which the entity is registered to conduct business with the State Corporation Commission (or comparable regulatory authority) must be stated. During or after the message, the caller must give the telephone number (other than that of the auto dialer or prerecorded message player that placed the call) of the business, other entity, or individual that made the call so that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. The number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long distance charges.

Auto dialers that deliver a recorded message must release the called party’s telephone line within five seconds of the time that the calling system receives notification that the called party’s line has hung up. In some areas, you could experience a delay before you can get a dial tone again. Your local telephone company can tell you if there is a delay in your area.
Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A call will be considered "abandoned" if it is not transferred to a live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient's greeting.

(4) Caller Identification (ID)
If you have caller ID, a telemarketer is required to transmit or display its phone number and, if available, its name or the name and phone number of the company for which it is selling products. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you. This rule also applies to when you press *69 on your telephone to get the number of your last caller.
This rule applies even if you have an EBR with the company, and even if you have not registered your personal cell or home phone number(s) on the national Do-Not-Call list. Before these rules took effect, the words “private,” “out of area,” or “unavailable” might have appeared on the Caller ID display.




Click this pdf file to download our free instructional phone log to start logging illegal telemarketing calls today
We are currently investigating  OTO INC for illegal telemarketing practices. We know who they are,  and who they work for.

THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THEM IS TO MAKE IT TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THEM AND THEIR CLIENTS
TO CONTINUE ILLEGAL TELEMARKETING. I WILL DO THIS AT NO COST TO YOU.

We have already collected $5000 from an OTO Inc. client for a single illegal telemarketing call OTO Inc. made for that client. OTO Inc.s clients are major businesses.


IF YOU WANT TO HELP STOP OTO INC.

Please e-mail me at harmonlaw@optonline.net with:

1)  Your name, address and the phone number OTO inc called.

2)  The date and time of each call.

3)  Whether the phone number OTO Inc. called was a cell phone or landline number.

4)   If you answered the phone, whether or not there was a pre-recorded message. If there was a pre-recorded message, the name of the business mentioned in the
pre-recording.

5)  Whether or not your phone number is on the
DO NOT CALL LIST