Idaho Attorney General Al Lance announced plans for his state's new do-not-call list for which residents can begin registering on Jan. 2.
Lance said that consumers will be able to register for the list, at a cost of $10, by calling the attorney general's toll-free number or by registering online at the Idaho attorney general's home page. The list will be updated quarterly, requiring telemarketers to purchase the list four times each year to do business in Idaho.
The state will charge companies $25 for each copy of the list.
The first list will be published April 2. Companies will have a 30-day grace period to remove people on the DNC list from their telemarketing lists.
Telemarketers will face fines of up to $500 for a first offense. The second offense is punishable by a $2,500 fine. Subsequent violations can bring fines of up to $5,000.
The attorney general's office estimates that — based on the experiences of other states — 20,000 people will register. Many states have received a larger response to their DNC lists than had been expected.
In New York, approximately 200,000 people signed up for the DNC list during the 30 days following the start of registration in October. Thirteen states currently have DNC lists in place or laws that will create new DNC lists.
The American Teleservices Association has lobbied against state DNC lists. The state lists duplicate the role of federal laws requiring telemarketers to keep lists of consumers who indicate they do not want phone solicitations, according to the ATA.
Not all telemarketing calls are affected by the Idaho DNC list. Calls made by charitable organizations are exempt as are calls made by companies to consumers with whom they have an existing business relationship.
