DirecTV socked with record FTC fine

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Satellite television operator DirecTV will pay a $5.3 million penalty for Do Not Call violations, the biggest such fine in U.S. consumer protection history.

The payment will settle the Federal Trade Commission charges that, since October 2003, the company violated the commission's telemarketing sales rule, the FTC said Wednesday. The proposed settlement imposes extensive monitoring requirements on DirecTV.

At the commission's request the Department of Justice filed the complaint and stipulated settlements with DirecTV, five firms that telemarketed on its behalf, and six principals of those telemarketing firms.

"This is the largest civil penalty the FTC has ever announced in a case enforcing any consumer protection law," the commission said in a statement.

Said FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras: "This multimillion dollar penalty drives home a simple point: Sellers are on the hook for calls placed on their behalf. The Do Not Call rule applies to all players in the marketing chain, including retailers and their telemarketers."