CURRAN VOWS TO FIGHT RULING ON DO-NOT-CALL

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. stated today that he disagrees with the ruling by a U.S. District court judge yesterday that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) exceeded its authority in creating the national Do Not Call Registry. The Registry, which was scheduled to go into effect October 1, promised to give Americans who registered with it relief from most telemarketing calls.

"I am confident the FTC will appeal the decision. When it does, I will file a friend-of-the-court brief with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the more than 1 million Marylanders who have already registered on the FTC's Do-Not-Call List," Curran said. "We will assert that the district court's decision ignores the clear intent of Congress and must be reversed."

District Court Judge Lee R. West, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, issued the decision. He found that the FTC did not have a "valid grant of authority from Congress" to establish the do-not-call list.

The FTC is continuing to register consumers on the do-not-call list. Marylanders who do not want to continue to receive calls from telemarketers can register by calling toll-free 1-888-382-1222 or going on-line to www.donotcall.gov. As of September 16, more than 1.1 million Marylanders had registered; more than 50 million Americans have registered in total.

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