3 out of 4 Registered for Do-Not-Call

Three out of every four adults are now registered on the Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call list, with a large majority saying they have seen a noticeable decrease in telemarketing calls. From January 2004 to the present, the number of adults registered climbed from 57 to 76 percent, a Harris Poll indicated.

18 percent of these registrants say they have received no calls since registration, with a majority, 61 percent, saying they receive far fewer calls. Only 7 percent say they either receive the same or more telemarketing calls since adding their names to the list.

Overall, the program seems to have a high success rate, with nine out of every 10 registrants seeing some kind of noticeable decrease in telemarketing calls.

The Do-Not-Call list allows U.S. registrants to prevent calls to both landline and cell phone numbers for a period of five years from the date of registration. Telemarketers have a period of 31 days to stop calling these numbers or face fines of up to $11,000.

Calls on behalf of political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, as well as calls from companies that the consumer has a business relationship with or has agreed to receive calls from are still permitted.

Interested individuals can register at donotcall.gov.

The poll surveyed 1,961 adults age 18 or over between December 8 and 14, 2005, of which 1,571 said they registered for the Do-Not-Call list. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percent.