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 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Rules  and  Regulations  Implementing  the  Telephone  Consumer  Protection  Act  of  1991;  CG  Docket  No.  02-  278  (adopted  June  26,  2003) 
 Our  decision  today  is  the  most  sweeping  consumer  protection  measure  ever  adopted  by  the  FCC.  No  longer  will  consumers  be  forced  to  endure  unwanted  telephone 
 calls  and  faxes.  Under  the  Telephone  Consumer  Protection  Act  (TCPA)  and  our  revised  rules,  consumers  are  empowered  to  choose. 


 The  TCPA  is  about  tools.  It  gives  consumers  the  tools  they  need  to  build  a  high  and  strong  fence  around  their  homes  to  protect  them  from  unsolicited  telephone  calls  and 
 faxes.  It  also  allows  other  consumers  to  have  a  lower  fence  or  no  fence  at  all,  if  they  wish  to  take  advantage  of  these  commercial  messages.  Our  decision  makes  the  American 
 consumer’s  toolbox  more  complete  by  creating  a  national  do  not  call  list  and  strengthening  and  modifying  our  other  longstanding  protections  under  the  TCPA.  Our 
 goal:  to  maximize  consumers’  ability  to  control  the  messages  they  receive  on  their  personal  phones  and  faxes. 


 Since  the  enactment  of  the  TCPA  a  decade  ago,  the  rapid  growth  of  technology  has  led  to  a  five-  fold  increase  in  marketing  contacts  via  telephone.  An  increased  number 
 of  telemarketing  calls,  the  proliferation  of  predictive  dialers,  and  the  incomplete  protections  of  less-  comprehensive  do  not  call  lists  have  combined  to  necessitate  the 
 Commission’s  new  approach.  Consumers  want  more  control  over  their  telephones  –  today  we  give  it  to  them. 


 In  addition  to  the  national  do  not  call  list,  our  decision  contains  a  number  of  other  important  provisions.  First,  although  telemarketing  calls  made  pursuant  to  an  existing 
 business  relationship  are  exempt  under  the  TCPA,  the  Commission  today  significantly  narrows  the  scope  of  that  exemption  to  better  protect  consumers.  Consumers  may 
 eliminate  even  these  commercial  calls  upon  request.  Second,  we  tighten  the  limitations  on  our  existing  do  not  call  rules  and  impose  additional  requirements  on  predictive  dialers, 
 pre-  recorded  messages,  and  calls  to  wireless  phones.  We  also  require  telephone  solicitations  to  provide  caller  identification.  Finally  we  adopt  stricter  rules  to  control 
 unsolicited  fax  advertising.  Taken  together  and  combined  with  vigilant  enforcement,  our  rules  provide  consumers  with  the  tools  they  need  to  craft  the  commercial  relationships 
 they  want. 
 Consistent  with  the  instructions  in  the  recently  enacted  Do  Not  Call  Implementation  Act,  our  order  maximizes  consistency  and  complements  the  FTC’s 
 recently  amended  rules.  I  look  forward  to  working  with  the  FTC,  under  the  fine  leadership  of  Chairman  Muris,  to  harmonize  our  rules  and  move  forward  with  nation-wide 
 implementation  of  the  federal  Do-  Not-  Call  Registry. 
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