Millions Rush to Register on FTC ‘Do-Not-Call’ List

More than 10 million phone numbers were registered with the national “do-not-call” list in its first four days, illustrating the public’s frustration with telemarketers.

The free service intended to block most telemarketing calls was launched Friday. At the height of the registration surge that evening, 158 phone numbers were signed up every second, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday.

“This is really a phenomenal response,” said Eileen Harrington, the FTC’s director of marketing practices. “There is an enormous enthusiasm and pent-up demand for this service.”

About 85% of the numbers were registered online at www.donotcall.gov, the FTC said. On the Web site, consumers provide the home or cell phone numbers they want protected and an e-mail address to receive a confirmation message.

Three million additional numbers were entered at the Web site but registration was not completed, which requires clicking on a link in the e-mail message, the FTC said.

Some consumers have had problems with the link in the confirmation message because their Internet provider or older Web browser software prevents it from working, the FTC said.

The commission said that if the link doesn’t work, people should copy and paste it directly into their Web browser’s address box to confirm registration.

Confirmations sent to users of Yahoo e-mail were initially diverted to their junk mail folders by a filtering system that mistook the large volume of do-not-call messages for spam, the company said, noting that the problem was corrected within hours of the list’s launch.

People also registered by calling toll-free at (888) 382-1222, a number available in states west of the Mississippi River. To ensure that the system can handle the volume of calls, the phone number will not operate nationwide until July 7. Consumers calling the toll-free number must call from the phone they want registered.

Including unconfirmed registrations, 7 million numbers were added Friday, 4.6 million on Saturday and 2 million on Sunday. The FTC expects as many as 60 million phone numbers to be registered in the first year.

People who sign up this summer should see a decrease in telemarketing calls after Oct. 1, when the FTC begins enforcing the list. The service will block about 80% of the calls, the FTC said.