We once reported on a company that prevents junk mail called GreenDimes, but equally annoying, if not as environmentally harmful, are telemarketing calls. For those of you who don’t already know about this, you can register your number on the National Do Not Call Registry to prevent these calls. And the registration never expires.
The bad news is that not all calls are covered by the registry. Political organizations, charities and telephone surveyors are still allowed to call first thing in the morning and launch into a five-minute pitch for contributions or research, as are companies with which you have an existing business relationship, such as your phone or cable company. You can however, sometimes request that they take you off their list too. If you’re friendly to the people on the other end of the line, they often become more accommodating.

The good news is, because the Federal Trade Commission (FCC) manages the registry, its violation could lead to law enforcement action. Thus, if you’re still getting calls and you mention the National No Call Registry, the telemarketer will likely back off immediately.

If only there were an equivalent for email spam.

Disclosure: If you’re crazy enough to want to get back on the telemarketer database, you can call 1-888-382-1222, toll-free.