More than 500,000 people have signed up to be on Wisconsin’s No Call list, according to the Department of Trade and Consumer Protection.

After an initial rush to get on the list, a spokesman for the department said the stampede is over and more than 20 percent of residential phone numbers in the state are on the list.

“The half million sign-ups exceeded our expectations, because other states took months to reach that total,” said Fran Tryon, administrator of Trade and Consumer Protection. “A million consumers are expected to sign up by the time the No Call list goes into effect Jan. 1, 2003.”

Under the No Call law, telemarketers are unable to call people registered on the list, or they face prosecution. The department said adding your residential phone number to the list will help to reduce telemarketing calls to your home but may not eliminate them.

The No Call list, which will become effective Jan. 1, 2003, will notify telemarketers of whom they cannot call. Those who register for the list prior to Dec. 1 will be on the list that comes out New Years’ Day. Once the distribution list begins, it will take anywhere from 30 to 120 days for the names to be put on an updated list and distributed to telemarketers.
To help deal with the influx of phone calls, the state installed 144 telephone lines for citizens to call and register to be placed on the list, which will be updated quarterly and distributed to telemarketers.
The department is encouraging nursing homes and caregivers to register for the list.
Tryon said no one should pay for registering on the list.
“The No Call list is a free service of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection,” he said. “Consumers shouldn’t pay for it. We are investigating allegations that some telemarketers are offering to sign people up for a fee.”