Big surprise!

Bell Canada gets awarded the first five-year contract to establish and maintain the "Do Not Call" (DNC) list. When launched, consumers will be able to register their cellular, fax and lanline numbers for free to reduce the umber of telemarketing calls they receive.

Sign up can be done via a toll-free number and website set-up at Bell. Join the list once and you'll be good for three years unless you renew your registraition before the time is up.

The kicker?

You'll still get calls from groups such as political parties, registered charities, pollsters, and newspapers.

If you get a call from a telemarketer you can submit a complaint to Bell Canada within two weeks. Bell forwards your complaint to the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC) or another investigative body yet to be determined, on your behalf...if Bell your complaint is valid. Sound a little buraucratic?

Potential fines are up to $1,500 per call for individuals and $15,000 per call for companies. Professionals (such as Realtors) can register with Bell Canada as a telemarketer and download the "Do Not Call" list regularly to ensure we're not calling anyone on the list.

There are, of course, exemptions. One important one is that if you have a "personal relashionship" or an "existing business relationship" with someone who's on the list, it's okay to contact them. An "existing relationship" is defined by the Telecommunications Act as "a business relationship that has been formed by a voluntary two-way communication between the person making the telecommunication and the person to whom the telecommuniction is made". According to the act, a business relationship exists when:

a) the purchase of services or the purchase, lease or rental of products, has occurred within the previous 18 months;

b) an inquiry or application has been made within the previous six months; or

c) a written contract has been entered into within the previous 18 months. 

The call curfews are still in effect also: Monday to Friday 9am to 11:30pm; and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm.

In the US, where a similar list went into effect in 2003, over 10 million consumers joined up within the first four days.

How do you get your name on the list? Every telemarketer contacting you must identify themselves and offer you a toll-free number to call to have your name added to that organization's "no call list". We have to assume that contacting Bell is the only way to get on the "official" no call list.

Emily is going to be busy this fall.

Robert J. Morrow is the editor of www.HamiltonHomeReview.com, a comprehensive Real Estate e-magazine based in Hamilton Ontario Canada