Last updated April 12, 2019
A bill being drafted in Madison in the United States could be the very thing to stop telemarketers irritating owners of new and old cell phones by sending them text messages they have no interest in receiving. The measure is intending to expand the state’s already existing No Call List to give cell phone users protection from unsolicited and unwanted text messages from telemarketers, with those that break the rules possibly facing a fine of up to $100 per call.
“I do a lot of texting, almost every day,” says Eau Claire resident Dustin Clark, who is fully in favor of the revised bill. “I know people that have (received text messages from telemarketers), but I myself have not. I think it was general stuff, maybe advertising or politics. I know that’s not a new thing.”
“It basically takes the current law and adds texting to the things that cannot be solicited by a third party,” notes Rep Warren Petryk of the 93rd Assembly District, who is authoring the version of the bill that will be presented to the Assembly. “It really is customer protection at its best.” Petryk says that the new version of the bill is designed to protect consumers from unsolicited cell phone text messages and unwanted phone charges and believes that as the popularity of texting only continues to grow, so too will the complaints about telemarketers using the service for their own ends.