Yes, you heard me right. Robots.
What I really mean are robot calls: automated messages used as a form of telemarketing. Paid for by the DNC/RNC or not, you've inevitably gotten a bunch advocating one candidate or the other, and chances are you're pretty miffed.
It turns out, mass spam telemarketing with robocalls is completely illegal for commercial interests, but suddenly legal when it comes to political campaigns. Yes, even by super PAC's. You'd imagine there'd be some overlap between this scenario and the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission court case some time back, and maybe there is. After all, what if the corporation in question was commercial in nature and wanted to get out political robocalls? Since corporations are allowed to contribute as much money as they want to campaigns, wouldn't this just be another form of that stride? Also, what's stopping them from putting out a political call and attaching their own advertising into it? Something in the vein of "Vote for Romney! Also the new iPod rocks!" Or what if it was more subtle?
Where is the line drawn?
The other side of the question: non-robot calls are legal. That is, if the person on the other line is alive and made of human tissue, it's suddenly legal (if it's solicited, of course). This makes some degree of sense, considering robocalls can be mass-distributed very quickly while human beings have limits, but with the availability of cheap labor, even human calls are becoming irritable, as shown by the "Do Not Call" FTC list hitting 217 million last Tuesday.
So, the Federal Trade Commission is now offering a contest to gather ideas on how to combat illegal telemarketing. This, honestly, boggles me.
The reason this problem exists at all is because of the strange provisions offered under the Bureau of Consumer Protection, a sub-department of the Federal Trade Commission.
If consumers are given the opportunity to enter a "Do Not Call" list anyways, why don't they simply change their telemarketing guidelines.
One simple, overarching way would be to just ban robot telemarketing altogether, although that's definitely an extreme. Another, more reasonable one would be to add "Do Not Call" as the default option, and let consumers "opt-in" if they want to hear the calls. This, of course, is economic suicide because a vastly smaller portion of the population would opt-in. After all, who wants to talk to telemarketers? But, logically, it would make the most sense in terms of satisfying the nation.
OH NO SCALE: Please hold.
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