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From the Indianapolis Star, November 11, 1991

The Senate has approved a bill that will outlaw computer phone solicitations unless consumers said they wanted to receive the calls. The legislation now goes to the House.

"It is time we liberated Americans from obnoxious telephone calls," said Sen. Larry Pressler, R-S.D., who sponsored the bill. "Consumers are fed up with the nuisance of unwanted telemarketing calls to their homes day and night."

The legislation also is designed to end other junk telephone calls. It prohibits:

Telephone solicitations to residential phone customers who choose not to receive the calls.

Use of automatic dialing machines or computer voice calls to emergency lines, cellular phones or pagers.

Unsolicited faxes.

The bill also allows consumers to recover damages for violation of the legislation.

Fraud by phone getting more common

Telephone fraud costs U.S. consumers about $1 billion a year. All too often, older people are a favorite target. That's because they are more likely to have money.

To combat the growing menace, the Federal Trade Commission has a free booklet called Fraud by Phone. To get a copy, write to Public Reference, FTC, Washington, D.C. 20580.

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