Last month I reported about a legislative action involving making permanent the Do Not Call list, which millions signed up for during its 2003 launch... and which are now set to expire in 2008. The good news just got a bit better: The Bill introduced in September to make the Do Not Call registry a permanent registry has passed both House and Senate committee sessions, which would eliminate the five-year expiry after which registered numbers are dropped from the list.

The lone governmental holdout against making Do Not Call entries permanent has been the FTC, which has previously said that expiration dates were needed to account for people who change phone numbers or move. However, critics of that policy have rightly argued that disconnected and reassigned numbers are automatically purged from the list once a month. The "permanent" DNC list would up that pace to twice a month.

Even more good news: While the bill is working its way through Congress, the FTC has reversed itself by announcing that it will not purge expiring registrations until the matter is sorted out in Congress (and hopefully signed by the President). So, no need to rush out and re-register your phone numbers on the list now. With any luck you'll never have to register them again.

Still need to register? Visit donotcall.gov to get on the list.  

LINK: Bill Makes Do Not Call Listings Forever