Second Federal Judge Blocks Do-Not-Call Registry [View All]

[QC]

DENVER (Reuters) - A second federal judge on Thursday blocked the popular ``do not call'' program that would declare 50 million telephone numbers off limits for telemarketers, saying it violated constitutional protections for free speech.

News of the judge's decision came less than an hour after Congress overrode another legal hurdle to the Federal Trade Commission-run list thrown up by a federal judge in Oklahoma City early this week.

The latest legal ruling could prove more difficult to overcome as it cannot be remedied in Congress and must be decided in the courts.

U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham in Denver said, ``The Federal Trade Commission has chosen to entangle itself too much in the consumers' decision by manipulating consumer choice and favoring speech by charitable (organizations) over commercial speech.''

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-telecoms-telemarketing.html?hp