The telephone number of a federal judge in Denver who blocked a national
do-not-call registry this week had been added to the list in July, blocking
telemarketers from calling him.
On Thursday, US District Judge Edward W. Nottingham stopped the Federal
Trade Commission from implementing the registry, ruling that it is an
unconstitutional infringement on free speech.
On July 28, the judge's phone number had been added to the registry, the
Globe confirmed by checking the registry online. The number is listed in
Nottingham's name in the residential phone listings in Denver, but is in fact
the number for the judge's chambers.
The FTC website, at www.donotcall.gov, allows anyone to register a number,
remove one, or to verify whether one was registered. According to an automated
response, Nottingham's number "was registered in the National Do Not Call
Registry on 7/28/2003. Most telemarketers will be required to stop calling you
three months from your registration date. Your registration will . . . expire
on 9/27/2008."
Nottingham did not return a phone message left by the Globe at his number
yesterday afternoon.
It's possible, of course, that someone other than the judge could have
registered his phone number. Or the judge or his clerk may have registered it
as a test of the system, as the case was before the judge at the time. In any
case, whoever registered the number did not later remove it from the list.
That can be done by calling a number listed on the website.
The home phone number of another federal judge who ruled against the list
also is in the registry, but it was added on Wednesday, a day after he made
his ruling. That judge, Lee R. West in Oklahoma City, did not return a phone
call from the Globe. His number could easily have been added by a prankster:
Consumers angered by the rulings had posted the phone numbers of both judges
online this week.
Bill Dedman can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
