The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission may be part of the same government, but that hasn’t stopped them from reaching widely different conclusions about what is permissible when it comes to telemarketing.
The FCC, for example, has taken the position that prerecorded telemarketing calls are allowed, as long as they are placed to someone with whom the company has an existing business relationship. But the FTC caused a stir last fall when it announced that it would start aggressive enforcement against companies that use prerecorded telemarketing calls, even to existing customers. (The FTC was supposed to begin its enforcement of its position on Jan. 2, but it is holding off for the time being.)
