What is Do Not Call Registry?
The National Do Not Call Registry is the US list of phone numbers whose subscribers have asked not to receive telemarketing calls.
Also called: DNC, National Do Not Call Registry.
The FCC's Do Not Call rules protect residential telephone subscribers who have registered their number, and extend that protection to telemarketing calls and text messages to wireless numbers. A telemarketing campaign is expected to screen its call list against the registry before dialling.
Business numbers sit in a grey area. The rules are written for residential subscribers, but a cell phone used for both business and personal calls can be treated as residential. Many small local businesses (tree services, cleaners, pest control) list the owner's own cell, so a business list does not exempt a caller from checking.
A recipient who receives more than one telephone call within any 12-month period in violation of the rules can sue, and the TCPA sets damages at $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if wilful. Documented due-care procedures, such as scrubbing lists against the registry and keeping an internal do-not-call list, are an affirmative defence.
Keep your internal do-not-call list together with your email suppression list. This is a summary, not legal advice.