On September 15th in Pennsylvania, and then next summer, the national "Do Not Call Registry" established by the federal government is coming up for renewal after five years. That means if you were like me and were one of the first ones to sign up, you better keep track of time because some of your personal privacy is set to expire.
What a contemporary concept, the expiration of personal privacy. It's like you bought a dated carton of milk. If you do not pay attention to the expiration date, you might get sick from the pervasive calls from boiler rooms offering you credit cards, trips to Las Vegas, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and deals that "You have already won!"
Should the registry send you an e-mail when your five years are up? I suppose they will not have to because another facet of contemporary life is the computer programmed marketing call. If that's true there may be zillions of programmed calls just waiting for your Do Not Call expiration. Once that second hand hits the 12:00 AM you will be bombarded by so many telemarketing calls that you will think you won the lottery and they just announced it on the nightly news.
If I was writing a sit-com I think a nightmare scene might be a sign on times square with your telephone number in three foot high letters next to a picture of a few trashy starlets with flashing lights and some giveaway.
But not to worry, even if your time is up you can sign up again. It's not like it was a one time offer. It's just a small nuisance but far less than having your telephone tied up and your answering machine full. Now if your time expires and you do not receive any unwanted calls, you must be Ziggy.
To find more potential opportunities and verify my track record read Chasing Value or Serious Money.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He is on the advisory board of Internet start-up CircleBuilder.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-13-2007 @ 5:22AM
DF Whiddon said...
I removed my phone from my home and now rely solely on my cellphone. Aside from stopping the calls, it has saved me about $150 per month.
As long as people can get paid for sitting on their backsides and making calls, there will be those who never go out and get a real job.