Dish Network Sued By FTC For Making Unwanted Calls

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Dish Network Sued By FTC For Making Unwanted Calls

The Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) has been sued by the FTC on the charges that it called consumers who previously asked telemarketers not to call them again.

The network provider has been sued by Federal Trade Commission, alleging that it illegally called millions of consumer who asked to be taken off from their call list, violating FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. As per the rule, a telemarketer cannot call someone who has previously requested to be taken off the company’s call list, even if the person is not registered with the National Do Not Call list.

According to the lawsuit filed by FTC on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois, Douglas County-based Dish Network violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule by calling consumers directly, or through its authorized dealers to sell its satellite TV service. The lawsuit also revealed that the network provider called millions of consumers directly since September 2007. FTC is asking Dish to stop making illegal call and pay damages for violation. Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) faces a fine of up to $11,000 for any violation that occurred on or before Feb. 9, 2009, and up to $16,000 for each violation after that date.

“We have vigorously enforced the Do Not Call rules, and will continue to do so to protect consumers’ right to be left alone in the privacy of their own homes,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz in a statement. “It is particularly disappointing when a well-established, nationally known company – which ought to know better – appears to have flagrantly and illegally made millions of invasive calls to Americans who specifically told Dish Network to leave them alone.”

“We manage our marketing practices to best-in-class standards,” said Dish spokesman John Hall in a statement. “In fact, our policies have been certified by an independent third party industry expert after an extensive audit. Notably, the FTC was recently denied the ability to assert these same claims by a federal court in another contested matter, and we vigorously will defend ourselves against them.”

Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) is already facing another lawsuit from the Department of Justice for violating the National Do Not Call Registry and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Shareholders do not seem concerned about the latest news. Dish shares are up 0.80% at the time of this writing.

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