The FTC is showing some teeth. Don’t mess with the FTC is the clear message over the $5.3 million fine (pocket change for them) levied against DirecTV for violations by telemarketing firms, via CNN:

The investigation into the case took about two years, according to Majoras. Large numbers of complaints began rolling into the FTC in November 2003 Prior to the DirecTV settlement, the biggest penalty levied over unsolicited calls was a $500,000 penalty against a company called Flagship.

I’ve mentioned before that we got our offline business off the ground using telemarketing, so I’m definitely feeling it a bit for telemarketers in the current climate. Still, it’s not difficult to pay attention to the ‘Do Not Call’ lists and they don’t apply to existing clients. At the same time, I don’t like telemarketers who call back after you have nicely asked to be removed from the list and never to call again.

Then again, with VoIP and cell phone numbers being so easy to obtain, changing non-business numbers is rather trivial. Don’t get too many telemarketing calls with VoIP, so I guess that’s another nice benefit. Don’t think I’ve ever had one via SkypeIN, and there have been very few with Vonage.