Its not a collection agency.... it is a polling questionaire. It has you answer the same question twice before it moves on and it goes on and on and on.
>>> I'm curious though how the FTC, an American regulatory board has any authority to have a judgement rendered against a Canadian company. <<<
It's actually simple enough. Look at paragraphs 1-16 of the first amended complaint at
http://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/docume ... 0819smscmpt.pdf
The glib answer, but one that actually works in this case, is that the defendants actively solicited business in the United States, and thus were subject to the jurisdiction of US civil laws for their dealings here. Also, the Canadian government is not hostile or non-cooperative in such civil matters, unlike some other countries from which many more calls to the US originate. Except for Quebec and Louisiana, we do share the same origin of our legal systems, after all.
In theory, someone operating out of one of those otherwise hostile countries could be made subject to the same laws for the same reason -- IF you could find them AND the other government cooperated. Good luck with THAT.
Very informative. I wonder if it goes the other way and the CRTC can leverage it's authority against American companies conducting telemarketing in Canada.
We've been getting calls from this number several times a week now for awhile. If we pick up to chew them out there's never anyone on the line. If the machine takes the call no message is left. Every few weeks we get different numbers doing this where they just keep trying over and over again. It's damn annoying and an invasion of our privacy. They often call as late as 9PM on a week night. The worst offenders for us are solar scammers and "cancer research" operators.
I forgot to add that the so called DoNotCall list has absolutely no effect. Scammers are not going to abide by the law. I find the most effective way to go after abusers is to report them to the state's attorney generals office. Most states have a form you can fill out on-line. This has actually worked several times for us.
The DNC is merely a database for all the agency's to use. When you file a complaint there, those are made available for the different agency's. You can also file complaints with FTC and FCC directly as well with the new agency, the CFB..