OVERVIEW

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) protects consumers from telemarketing, which is “the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person.” 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(13). The TCPA also authorized the creation of the National Do Not Call Registry. The Federal Communications Commission subsequently created rules and regulations implementing the TCPA. The Federal Trade Commission concurrently implements the TCPA through the Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”), issued initially in 1995. Various states have also enacted statutes that govern telemarketing activities.

DIRECTV does not wish to violate the privacy rights or choices of any person who does not want to be called by our company. In particular, DIRECTV wishes to respect and honor requests by consumers to be placed on DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list. Consumers on DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list will not receive sales calls from DIRECTV unless and until they provide consent to receive sales calls.

Therefore, the following Do Not Call policy is mandatory in all of DIRECTV’s solicitations and campaigns. It applies to all DIRECTV associates, telemarketers, agencies, and any other third-party contractors hired to conduct telemarketing or provide services on behalf of DIRECTV (“Third-Party Vendors”). Third-Party Vendors do not include third-party retailers, however, even if these retailers engage in telemarketing. Please note, additionally, that placement on DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list does not restrict DIRECTV’s ability to place purely informational and/or collections calls to its customers.

DO NOT CALL POLICY

DIRECTV retains Third-Party Vendors to sell its goods and services in accordance with federal and state rules governing telemarketing. DIRECTV requires that all Third-Party Vendors telemarketing at its request and under its direction ensure they are in compliance with federal and state laws regarding telemarketing and that they fully understand and agree to follow procedures for maintaining “Do Not Call” data.

Broadly, DIRECTV’s Do Not Call policy requires the company and its Third-Party Vendors to comply with applicable Do Not Call regulations by adhering to certain objectives. These are:

Prior to making telemarketing calls, become familiar with Do Not Call regulations.
Design calling campaigns to ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state laws as well as applicable Do Not Call regulations.
Allow consumers easy access to this Do Not Call policy.
Promptly honor all consumers’ requests to be removed from DIRECTV calling or other contacting, whether made by telephone or in writing and regardless of the severity of tone or reasoning.
Provide regular training and oversight to ensure compliance.

DIRECTV and its Third-Party Vendors will not place sales calls to any number a consumer asks to be placed on DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list. Numbers will be added within a reasonable time not to exceed 30 days of any request. A request from a DIRECTV subscriber to not receive sales calls will be reflected in the customer’s account records. A request from a non-subscriber is captured and recorded in business records. DIRECTV regularly forwards its updated Do Not Call list to its Third-Party Vendors. In compiling a list of numbers to call for a particular telemarketing campaign, DIRECTV and its Third-Party Vendors will exclude any numbers contained within DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list. If a person’s telephone number changes, another request must be submitted to have the new number added to DIRECTV’s Do Not Call list.

DIRECTV requires its Third-Party Vendors to report to DIRECTV all consumer requests to be removed from telemarketing lists so that each request can be added to DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list. DIRECTV does not condone telemarketing activities conducted in violation of the TCPA, federal rules and regulations, or state laws regarding telemarketing.

PROCEDURES FOR DIRECTV AND ITS THIRD-PARTY VENDORS

DIRECTV requires the company and all Third-Party Vendors that make marketing and sales calls at DIRECTV’s request and under its direction to:

Use only the call lists provided by DIRECTV and exclude numbers on DIRECTV’s internal Do Not Call list;
Put an internal Do Not Call list in place for those who do not wish to receive telephone solicitations from the Third-Party Vendor;
Scrub against the Third-Party Vendor’s internal Do Not Call list before initiating telephone solicitations;
Secure state Do Not Call lists where required;
Register in all states as applicable;
Adhere to applicable time and manner restrictions for telemarketing calls;
When applicable, scrub against required state and federal Do Not Call registries;
Institute and maintain a procedure to transmit all Do Not Call requests from DIRECTV solicitation campaigns to DIRECTV;
Maintain records of calls as required;
Develop its own written Do Not Call policy and make either its own or both its own and DIRECTV’s written policy available on demand;
Train all employees engaging in outbound telephone solicitation in both DIRECTV’s and the Third-Party Vendor’s Do Not Call policy and ensure they are aware of these procedures before they are allowed to place calls to consumers. Management must review the policy with these employees on a regular basis;
Not use Do Not Call lists for any other reason besides maintaining compliance with Do Not Call requirements by scrubbing outbound consumer telemarketing lists against these lists;
Investigate and resolve notifications from consumers that they have received a telephone call from DIRECTV after they have already requested to be placed on the Third-Party Vendor’s or DIRECTV’s Do Not Call list. These notifications must also be reported to DIRECTV.

NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

The Federal Trade Commission maintains the National Do Not Call Registry. Learn more and register your phone at www.donotcall.gov. Some states maintain do not call registries, so you can check with your state Attorney General or other regulator for the rules and exceptions.