Some good news in the battle against telemarketers:

Nat’l Do Not Call Sign Up Starts in July

Mar 26, 5:17 AM (ET)

By DAVID HO

WASHINGTON (AP) – People fed up with unwanted telemarketing can sign up in July for a national do-not-call list that will block many sales calls, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.

The FTC will launch a Web site on July 1 so consumers can register online for the free service, the agency said.

In the past I’ve been of two minds about this kind of thing.  It offends my libertarian sensibilities.  However, the plague of telemarketers finally convinced me that intervention was needed in this area.  Those deceptive bastards were incapable of policing themselves.  It reached the point where I wouldn’t answer the phone if I didn’t recognize the name or number on the caller ID.  My phone would ring four or five times each evening (and I would often come home to see that there had been about the same number of calls during the day).  Now that I’m on the Texas do not call list I hardly ever get sales calls anymore.  Perhaps now I’ll be able to eradicate those final few that think they’re immune to Texas law.

Hat tip to my friend Rodney for emailing this article.