Let me start by saying that all of my lines are registered on the national Do Not Call List (DNCL) and have been since its launch five years ago.
That said, I am not sure I agree with a plan to make registrations permanent.
In its new release celebrating the fifth anniversary of the DNCL, the Commission said:
The CRTC is of the view that it would be too cumbersome to establish a procedure to remove numbers that have been disconnected or reassigned. It has therefore launched a consultation to find out whether registrations could be made permanent without such a procedure.
Mathematically, this effectively means that every Canadian phone number will be on the list eventually, unless people actively de-register their numbers. Ultimately, the only way to receive calls – other than from those duct cleaners who just don’t seem to care about the rules – would be to effectively opt-in.
I’d like to know what kind of person would do that.
The CRTC Public Notice details the evolution of the list from a 3 year registration period, to five years and now the CRTC’s proposal to make it permanent.
In Telecom Public Notice 2008-14, the Commission requested comments from interested persons as to whether registrations of telecommunications numbers on the National DNCL should be made permanent. In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-200, the Commission concluded that, if registrations on the National DNCL were made permanent, an efficient and cost-effective process would need to be established to remove disconnected and reassigned numbers from the National DNCL.
A CISC group determined that “the necessary processes and procedures for permanent number registration would be extremely time consuming, costly to implement, and unnecessary.” The CRTC engaged a US consultancy to assess the processes and concluded “that permanent number registration with a process to remove disconnected and reassigned numbers is not feasible on an efficient and cost-effective basis.”
But, the CRTC says that the National DNCL is popular with Canadians, citing a 2011 Privacy Commissioner survey that indicates 7 out of 8 Canadians surveyed “were concerned or somewhat concerned about organizations sending unwanted emails, faxes, letters, or telephone calls.” So, the CRTC is of the preliminary view that we should make DNCL registration permanent anyway.
I understand the attraction, but have to wonder if there should be more understanding about how such measures fit with a national digital economy strategy.
After all, sales people can knock on your door; companies can buy mailing lists and sent unsolicited addressed paper mail or drop flyers off at your door (or thrown on our driveways and lawns). Why are these forms of unsolicited old-media communications not being banned, but we seem to have no trouble erecting barriers to similar forms of communications using electronic media?
Has there been sufficient exploration of the impact of such measures on the development of Canada’s digital economy?