Do-Not-Call doesn't fly

A plan by the Federal Trade commission to allow Americans to prevent telemarketers from calling them was halted yesterday by a federal judge, the Washington Post reported.

Judge Lee R. West's decision was a surprise to government officials who had expected the plan to go down without a hitch. West said in his decision that the FTC had overstepped its bounds, and that Congress had not specifically given the FTC permission to create such a service, according to the Post.

The Do-Not-Call list is currently comprised of more than 50 million phone numbers. Callers from these numbers to those on the list would have risked $11,000 fines, according to the Post.

After the ruling, legislators scrambled to ratify the proposal by the FTC, which would effectively reverse the court ruling. The FTC meanwhile notified the court that it planned to appeal the decision.