We all have our own ways of dealing with telemarketers.

Some of us are suckers, and we politely sit through the entire call only to respond, “No thank you.” This is always a hassle, though, because the telemarketer counter attacks with, “But how could you turn down such an offer?”

Others are not so patient. Telemarketers are often times very obtrusive and many people react accordingly, getting angry at the caller and putting themselves into a bad mood. Telemarketing calls cause stress and put pressure on people who are obviously not at the mall for a reason — they don’t want to buy anything.

Under new federal and state laws, we all have the option of placing our names on a no-call list designed to prohibit telemarketers from calling anyone on the list. Telemarketing firms will face fines of $11,000 per violation if they call anyone on the list after Oct.1.

In the past, the only defense against marketing calls was call-screening equipment. Along with caller ID, call block options and any of the modern devices that have turned telecommunications into a political arena, the call-screening equipment specifically designed to hunt down computer-generated calls is helping to make people’s “homes even more of a fortress against the outside world,” the San Francisco Gate reported.

The Direct Marketing Association, a trade group that represents tele-marketing firms, adamantly opposes any implementation of the list. The association has filed a lawsuit to stop the national registry, clinging to the meager hope that the First Amendment will protect their right to violate our right to privacy.

“They also are challenging new federal rules to reduce the number of hang-up calls and regulations against charging people’s credit card for products without explicit permission,” The SF Gate reported.

Josette Hernandez, a secretary for the software company, Trakker Technologies, experienced the abusive and questionably legal practices of telemarketing companies.

“I got a call from a telemarketer,” Josette explained. “ I told him no, but he said that all he wanted to do was ask me a few questions for his questionnaire. I felt bad so I answered a few questions. A few weeks later I noticed extra charges on our company’s telephone bill from the company he had called for.”

When Hernandez called the company to correct the mistake, the operator directed her to an automated system that replayed a cut up version of her conversation with the telemarketer. This recorded version of her conversation made it sound like she had agreed to whatever service the company was offering.

“There was nothing to do but cancel the service, pay the incurred fees and report the company to the Better Business Bureau,” Hernandez said. “Now I am very rude and resentful of any telemarketer that calls.”

This new no-call list will hopefully eliminate any such scams. The “do not call” registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission and can be accessed through the Web site nocall.doj.state.ca.us. The service is free and requires only a name, telephone number and zip code.

Starting in September, telemarketing firms will be bound by law to purchase the national list. By the time the list is purchased, the firms will have 30 days to purge all the names from their own lists. The firms must purchase the list every three months and our names will remain on the list for five years.

So expect to be inundated by calls within that 30-day grace period the firms have been granted. The exceptions to the law are charities, political candidates and groups (since it was politicians that created the law), businesses with fewer than five employees and companies that you have bought things from within the previous 18 months. So other than these somewhat bothersome groups, if you register on the Web site, you will be free from obtrusive telemarketing calls.

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