Al's Morning Meeting

In the last week I have taught journalists from Cambodia, Nigeria, South Africa, Gambia, Russia, Romania, and elsewhere. On this Fourth of July, I am thinking about how lucky we are to live in a country where so much public information is available right here, online, for free.

Journalists from around the world marvel at America's system that opens political contributions to inspection. They can't believe that charities have to report every penny they take in and spend. They love the idea that public companies have to report their income and expenses. They are envious that anyone can jump online and look at the licenses, permits, and public records kept by all 50 states. What a great country we live in.

Happy Birthday America.

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Do Not Call List –- Red Hot, Big Loopholes

There is a lot more to do on this story. I want to offer some "contrarian" ideas about why this whole idea may not work the way millions of people think it is going to work.

The National Do Not Call list is red-hot news. NetRatings says it may go down as the fastest growing website ever built.

More than 15 million people have signed up so far. The feds now estimate 60 million will sign up.

The Lycos 50 lists it as the number one most requested search word for the week, topping Brittany Spears and Harry Potter. This is amazing. Yahoo lists the Do Not Call list as its number two website for the week.

The FTC, FCC, and states will actually not begin enforcing the registry until Oct. 1, 2003. The government says, "Anybody who has completed registering their phone numbers by the end of August can expect to start seeing fewer telemarketing calls in October. "

The FTC service automatically e-mails a message containing a confirmation link back to registrants so they can verify the request. If registrants do not respond to the confirmation messages within 72 hours, their phone numbers are not added to the list. After you register, you can check to see if your number actually made it on  the Do Not Call list. There are some estimates that one in five people who sign up have not completed the second step and might think they are on the list but are not.

Web guru Sree Sreenivasan says up to 25 percent of all numbers that people tried to register never were completely registered because the FTC's confirmation e-mail was classified as spam by some e-mail programs. (Yahoo says it fixed the problem quickly after they noticed it.)

In the end, the whole Do Not Call idea may not work. Some of the biggest users of telemarketing are exempt.

Here is part of a column in Fortune:

Long-distance phone companies got an exemption for their nightly slam calls. There's an irony in there someplace.

Airlines got an exemption, which I suppose is cool if they're calling to let you know that they've gone bankrupt and your flight is canceled. 

Banks and credit unions got an exemption, probably to offer the newest consumer credit package: zero-percent auto loans with zero-percent savings accounts. 

Insurance companies got an exemption, too, so they can call and tell you that your rates are going up as a result of their lousy investments of your premium money in the stock market.

Wait, there's more.

Charities got an exclusion. Hmm ... I'm beginning to wonder whether this list is really going to cut down on my dinner-time calls after all. 

Telephone surveyors don't have to honor the list, either. Does it seem like the loophole is expanding?

And, I'm sure George W. was happy to note, the new Do Not Call list does not apply to political organizations.

Finally, there's the biggest loophole of all: The Do Not Call list can be ignored if the company already has an existing business relationship with you. So, if you once gave $10 to the Tinker Toys for Tiny Tots Trust, you'll be hearing from them again.

But Fortune also did a follow-up piece, which included a complaint from the FCC that the new Do Not Call list was not as toothless as Fortune first said. Or at least it might not be if the FCC and the FTC can agree on what is going to be enforced.

And read why one researcher says that unless you get tons of calls from telemarketers, it might be better NOT to sign up for the federal do not call list, but to deal individually with annoying callers. (Look at June 29 posting from "aceresearcher" -- fascinating)

See details of the Do Not Call Rules here.

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So Why Can’t We Get a Do Not E-Mail List? Clue: It Would Have to be Worldwide

CNN reported that the Do Not Call list might force telemarketers to find new ways to sell their stuff and their services. Two alternatives are tons of Spam e-mails and more junk snail mail.

As wild an idea as it sounds, the national interest in the Do Not Call List has lead some to think more broadly about how to regain peace and quiet.

InternetNews.com reported: "The success has led some to wonder if the next step in the war on spam will be a do-not-e-mail list, such as the one proposed in Sen. Charles Schumer's anti-spam legislation. But e-mail marketers, and even the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) itself, have doubts that such an e-mail list would work. 'Sheer folly,' said Louis Mastria, a spokesman for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). 'Sen. Schumer knows my feelings on this.'

"Schumer called for the FTC to create a database for people to register their addresses (and their children's) to not receive spam. The FTC would hire a third-party vendor to operate the database. Violators would be liable to both criminal prosecution as well as civil penalties brought by those spammed. Following up on Schumer's proposal, the leading anti-spam bill, the CAN-SPAM Act, added a provision that would allow the FTC -- but not require it -- to set up a do-not-e-mail list. Such a list would allow Internet service providers to sign up their entire domains, potentially making the database less unruly.

"There seems to be public support for such a system. According to a survey released yesterday by Insight Express, 80 percent of those that signed up for the do-not-call list would sign up for a similar list devoted to unsolicited e-mail."

Of course the biggest problem is that the web is the WORLD Wide Web. Even if you could stop or slow spam mail from the U.S. -- it would easily move offshore. Heck it's just data.

As Fortune columnist Peter Lewis wrote, "Is the new registry going to stop calls from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or other places outside the U.S. borders? (I'll answer that one: No.) Today, when I call customer support for some product I've bought, more than likely I'll be talking with someone in India or Eastern Europe. These days, companies find it cheaper to route calls overseas. What's to stop telemarketers from doing the same thing in reverse? 'We intend to enforce the rules," the FCC spokeswoman said, 'regardless of where the call originates.'"

It ain't gonna fly, Orville.

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Sree's Magic Web

I just sat in on another Sree Sreenivasan presentation here at Poynter. As always I came away with a bunch of websites that I want to pass along to you. You can see Sree's great collection here. One thing I really like is how Sree urges web-using journalists to test and question the quality of information they use.

Here are a couple of sites I jotted down from Sree's extensive presentation

• Cooking With Google – Let's say you have some stuff in your fridge and you want to know what you could make with what you have. Enter the ingredients into the engine and it will find recipes you could use to make something edible.

• FedStats.gov - It has been a while since I went there -- Wow, has it improved. You can get statistics from 100 government agencies, localized by state. This one belongs on your favorites list.

• Mappoint.com - I like this map service. One of the neat features is a quick weather key so you can see the weather forecast for wherever you are going.

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Pentagon Recruits Parents

Here is an interesting Fourth of July story. The Wall Street Journal says, "If you are an 'adult influencer' -- otherwise known as a parent -- you are the target of a Pentagon media blitz that just started last week. Disappointed that youths haven't been rushing to enlist since Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon now is trying to get parents to talk their children into joining up."

CBS said, "The campaign's print ads, television spot, and new website hope to 'strengthen the personal bond between adult Americans and their military,' according to a Pentagon statement. The idea is that adults will then be more likely to recommend military service to young people in their lives.

"'Our program is designed to influence adults who influence the post-high school decision-making process of post-high school adults,' said Air Force Major Joe Allegretti of the military's Joint Advertising, Market Research, And Studies Program.

"Because of population growth and a shrinking armed force, the percentage of Americans in the military hit a post-World War II low in 2001. About one in 125 Americans were in uniform that year. Even the number of people who've left the military is shrinking: The number of veterans fell 4 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to census figures, a trend that's expected to continue."

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Fourth of July Facts, Stats

I included them in a column earlier this week.

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We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.

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