Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Maryland

Phone solicitation

In light of the recent bill that was passed creating a no call list and the almost gauranteed appeals I was wondering if the argument could be made that the phone lines and eguipment in my house belong to me. Any solicitor who attemps to call me has converted, without my permission, property which belongs to me for there own personal use to earn money for the business they represent. Any other phone call I receive I tend to gain something. Wether it be pleasure hearing from someone I would enjoy talking to or it may be other types of calls that I have personal interest in.

Can someone insist they have a legal right to use property that belongs to me. I don't think there is any good argument against the ''no call'' list. I don't think there should even be a need for one. Does my argument have any merit. Thank you.


Asked on 3/17/03, 10:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Worsham Michael C. Worsham, Esq.

Re: Phone solicitation

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 USC 227, does have an element to prohibit conversion with respect to unsolicited faxes. No one has a right to convert your paper and toner into their own. The restrictioins on telemarketing calls are not couched quite the same way. The industry challenges to the national do not call lists are likely to fail, so join the FTC and FCC do not call lists and your telemarketing calls will decrease. The junk fax section of my website has an opinion from the Baltimore Circuit Court supporting the position that junk faxes are a form of conversion. Go to www.worshamlaw.com and look under What's New!

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Answered on 3/18/03, 9:54 am


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