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Take back your phones from the politicians at election time

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)Published in the 9/6/2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Click here to read it at the paper's website.

Regarding "Nixon warns campaigns about law on automated phone calls" (Sept. 3):
Missouri Attorney Gen. Jay Nixon is running for governor. How did I know? He
decided to make a "robo-call" announcement months before election day.

His recent announcement cracking down on politicians who robo-call without
identifying themselves may sound good on the evening news, but the reality is
that politicians will continue to robo-call and continue to use robo-calls for
dirty tricks. They'll continue to call without identification and not get
caught.

Political calls that are made without identifying the candidate and giving a
true caller-identification number by definition will be illegal. But how will
the attorney general prosecute candidates who don't identify themselves? Sounds
impossible to me.

I started a non-profit, non-partisan organization last year to combat intrusive
robo-calls by using a voluntary, private-sector solution: a "Political Do Not
Contact Registry." I was asked to testify at the U.S. Senate in February with
North Carolina Attorney Gen. Roy Cooper.

Our registry is similar to the federal government's Do Not Call list. But to
succeed it requires politicians who will honor the wishes of voters who'd
rather not endure the endless robotic, political phone calls during campaign
season.

Kansas Rep. Nancy Boyda has become the second member to sign our pledge. She
has taken the pledge and agreed not to robo-call constituents who sign up for
free at the National Political Do Not Contact Registry at
StopPoliticalCalls.org. We commend her leadership on this important consumer
issue, which has an impact on the privacy of all voters. As one frustrated
person wrote to us, "I find it very frustrating.... I tend to get calls at the
worst time. I have a 1-year-old daughter, and it never fails that the phone
will ring when I put her down for a nap or for bed."

Voters' phones will be ringing off the hook this fall. Fed-up voters can visit
our website at StopPoliticalCalls.org and add their names to our free political
do-not-c all registry. It's time we give the political dialogue back to
average, concerned citizens.

Shaun Dakin | Washington, D.C.

Founder & CEO,

National Political Do Not Contact Registry