Blog's from the Bush

The Australian version of a Do Not Call register finally launched and went live today at http://www.donotcall.gov.au

As has been mentioned the implementation leaves a lot to be desired, here are a few more problems:

First off, telemarketers can call you up to 30 days after you've registered. Why - this is the age of the internet isn't it ? How hard could it be to automate an on-the-fly checking process before your number is put in a tele-marketers queue? Since it takes 30 days you should sign-up now at http://www.donotcall.gov.au, unless you actually want tele-marketers calling you.

Second up, you can still get calls from Religious Organisations (and their affiliates), Charities and Political groups... Why? When you register you should be able to elect whether or not you want these groups to call you or not. Don't get me wrong I understand that Political groups and Charities are fundamental aspects of our societies and that Religious Freedom is important too - but don't i have mail box full of this stuff already? Don't I have people knocking on my door every month?

Some of you are probably wondering why I'm objecting to the exemption these groups have - well its simple. The phone is inside the walls. You can't stop a person calling you - you can't even check where they are calling from 90% of the time as the number come up as "Private". If a charity/political/religious representative comes to the door you can check their identification, simple, and this give you some assurances and lets you deal with the organisation as you see fit. An anonymous phone call doesn't help you in any way - you have to take the callers word for it - not likely!

What if I have strong Religious or Political views and I don't have any interest in signing up with the "Greens" or "The Church of the Teapot" let alone hearing from them?

You can't stop mail arriving but surely you have a right to stop intrusions coming through the walls of your home?