WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The Federal Trade Commission says it is set to ban the use of prerecorded commercial telemarketing calls to U.S. residents without consumers' permission.
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a news release Friday that starting next Tuesday, the use of so-called robocalls by telemarketers will be illegal unless the targeted consumer has given written permission for such sales efforts.
"American consumers have made it crystal clear that few things annoy them more than the billions of commercial telemarketing robocalls they receive every year," Leibowitz, said. "Starting Sept. 1, this bombardment of prerecorded pitches, senseless solicitations, and malicious marketing will be illegal. If consumers think they're being harassed by robocallers, they need to let us know, and we will go after them."
The potential penalty for violating the new FTC requirement, which was announced as a Telemarketing Sales Rule amendment a year ago, is as much as $16,000 per call.
