Telemarketing Sales Rule, 65762 [E6-19012]

Agencies

• FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 217 (Thursday, November 9, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 65762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19012]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 310

RIN 3084-0098


Telemarketing Sales Rule

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Extension of period to submit comments in response to proposed 
amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (``TSR'').

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SUMMARY: In a Federal Register notice published on October 4, 2006, 71 
FR 58716, the FTC requested comment on two proposed amendments to the 
TSR. The Notice stated that comments must be submitted on or before 
November 6, 2006. In response to a request for an extension of the 
comment period received on October 30, 2006, the Commission has 
extended the comment period for an additional 40 days.

DATES: Comments addressing the proposed TSR amendments must be 
submitted on or before December 18, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. 
Comments should refer to ``TSR Prerecorded Call Prohibition and Call 
Abandonment Standard Modification, Project No. R411001'' to facilitate 
the organization of comments. A comment filed in paper form should 
include this reference both in the text and on the envelope, and should 
be mailed or delivered, with two complete copies, to the following 
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 
(Annex K), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC 
is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier 
or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the 
Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security precautions. Comments containing confidential 
material, however, must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c), which 
requires that the comment be accompanied by an explicit request for 
confidential treatment, including the factual and legal basis for the 
request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be 
withheld from the public record. The request will be granted or denied 
by the Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and 
the public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
    Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by visiting 
the Web site at https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-tsr and following 
the instructions on the Web-based form. To ensure that the Commission 
considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the web-based form 
at the https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-tsr Web site. You may also 
visit https://www.regulations.gov, to read the proposed amendments and 
file an electronic comment through that Web site. The Commission will 
consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to it.
    The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the 
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as 
appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive 
public comments that it receives, whether filed in paper or electronic 
form. Comments received will be available to the public on the FTC Web 
site, to the extent practicable, at https://www.ftc.gov. As a matter of 
discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home contact 
information for individuals from public comments it receives before 
placing those comments on the FTC Web site. More information, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's 
privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/Privacy.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Tregillus, (202) 326-2970, 
Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Room H-
288, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 4, 2006, the Commission published 
a notice in the Federal Register that, among other things, announced 
two proposals to amend the Telemarketing Sales Rule (``TSR'') by (1) 
making explicit the prohibition, currently implied in the TSR's ``call 
abandonment'' provisions, against the use of prerecorded messages in 
telemarketing calls answered by a person without that person's prior 
consent to receive such calls; and (2) modifying the method for 
measuring the maximum allowable call abandonment rate in the TSR's call 
abandonment safe harbor. The notice set forth the text of the proposed 
amendments and posed a series of questions designed to elicit public 
comment. The notice provided for a 30-day comment period, which will 
end on November 6, 2006.
    On October 30, 2006, the Commission received a request from the 
Direct Marketing Association (``DMA'') seeking a 40-day extension of 
the comment period, which would expire on December 18, 2006. In support 
of its extension request, DMA argued that the proposed amendments 
``represent a departure from [the Commission's] prior proposal to allow 
the types of calls it now proposes to prohibit,'' and that DMA needs 
the additional time to ``compile information from its members to submit 
into the record that is essential to the Commission's proposals.''
    The Commission believes that the request for a 40-day extension of 
the deadline for receipt of public comments is reasonable. Moreover, as 
the request notes, ``there will be no change to the status quo with an 
extension'' because ``consumers will receive the same protections they 
have received since the Commission's prior proposal.'' \1\ Accordingly, 
the Commission has determined to extend the comment period for an 
additional 40 days. The Commission therefore will accept comments 
received on or before Monday, December 18, 2006.
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    \1\ The requested extension will not alter the expiration on 
January 2, 2007, of the Commission's policy of forbearing to bring 
enforcement actions against sellers and telemarketers using 
prerecorded messages that violate the TSR.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-19012 Filed 11-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P