Telemarketers and Caller ID.

FTC regulations which are part of the national do-not-call registry take effect today, and require telemarketers to identify themselves on Caller ID. Telemarketers can no longer block their identification, and their calls must display either the name of the company whose goods or services are being sold or the name of the company making the call. The display must also show a phone number that consumers can call during business hours to request that the company no longer call them.

These regulations didn't take effect when the do-not-call registry came into being last fall, in order to give telemarketers time to get the technology needed to display the names and numbers.

The telemarketing industry supports the Caller ID requirement, claiming that it would "improve trust" among customers, and - not surprisingly - opposes the do-not-call registry. Of course, since the registry now contains over 56 million telephone numbers, it would appear that consumers have voted with their feet, prefering to avoid telemarketers instead of trusting them.