Oct. 07, 2002

Unlike the U.S. Direct Marketing Association (DMA), its Canadian counterpart, the CDMA supports a national do-not-call list for Canadian consumers. Its president said that U.S. DMA was wrong, ten years ago, when it  lobbied against a national do-not-call list. Now, more than two dozen states adopted their own do-not-call  lists.

John Gustavson, the CDMA's president blames the telemarketing industry for bringing its present troubles upon itself.  "People are just fed up with telemarketers," he said. "They're fed up with the annoyance and fed up with not being able to get off telemarketing lists."

Gustavson said he has "no sympathy" for telemarketers, even though his association's membership includes some well-recognized names in the telemarketing industry.

Like the DMA's Telephone Preference Service, the CDMA maintains its own no-call registry, which CMA members are required to use. However, he said the CDMA's list is not effective because abusive telemarketers usually aren't members.

His position is in direct conflict with the DMA, which regularly argues that the existence of the TPS negates the need for a federal no-call registry. Gustavson said that he respects the DMA but that the evidence against industry self-regulation is clear.

"If it worked, the public would not be screaming bloody blue murder over telemarketing," he said.

In Gustavson's vision for a national DNC list, no companies would be exempt, not even charities, though all would still be allowed to call existing customers.