Comments on: Dial O for opportunism https://www.overlawyered.com/2017/03/dial-o-opportunism/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sat, 25 Mar 2017 00:22:17 +0000 hourly 1 By: Janson Storm https://www.overlawyered.com/2017/03/dial-o-opportunism/comment-page-1/#comment-344781 Sat, 25 Mar 2017 00:22:17 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=52177#comment-344781 I would prefer the market solve this. Allow me to set the rate at which people may call me. If I get $5 from the caller for every unwanted call I get, I wouldn’t mind the interruption. There could be a list of numbers that may call me without getting charged, and there could be an easy way to immediately refund that $5 (or whatever my rate is) if I get a call that I want to refund (press #4 or whatever). In the digital age, transferring the right funds to the right accounts each month shouldn’t be that difficult.

This solves the problem without any regulation. The problem is that the telemarketers are getting a good – my time – for almost free. As any freshman econ major can tell you, an artificially low price will result in over-consumption. I get significantly more telemarketing calls than I do calls from people I know. While this is probably partly a product of my not having friends, it also shows regulation is not fixing this. Make telemarketers pay a market rate for my time, and they’ll call only if it’s an efficient thing to do. Which is never.

]]> By: Allan https://www.overlawyered.com/2017/03/dial-o-opportunism/comment-page-1/#comment-344771 Fri, 24 Mar 2017 16:31:45 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=52177#comment-344771 Um. Stop violating the Act and the lawsuits will stop, or you will win. I have my phones on the do not call list and I still get calls. I tell the callers to stop calling, and I still get calls. I am not litigious, so I don’t sue. But I appreciate those who do.

If I were to make one change in the law, it would be that recipients would have to prove that either 1) the consumer him/herself asked the calls to stop or 2) the consumer show that the caller is in gross disregard of the law (by, for example, making hundreds or thousands of calls in violation of the law).

I have little sympathy for the attorney in CA, who is tricking companies into calling. But, then again, I have little sympathy for the companies, either.

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