Cross-Industry Coalition Releases Economic Impact Study of Proposed Telemarketing Sales Rule Changes

6/5/2002

From: S. Nelson, 202-486-7575, for the Consumer Choice Coalition or ConsumerChoiceCo@aol.com

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- The Consumer Choice Coalition, a cross-industry coalition, today announced the release of an economic study highlighting the impact of the proposed changes to the current Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) on businesses and consumers.

The study, commissioned by the Consumer Choice Coalition and conducted by well-known economic research groups LECG and Capital Economics, found that many of the proposed amendments would place substantial costs on the industry -- costs that will eventually be passed on to consumers in the form of increased prices for goods and services.

"These costs need to be balanced against stand-alone benefits to consumers," said Jim Miller, director of the study and former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and past director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). "Any large increases in the cost of doing business, as are proposed by the FTC's amendments to the current rules, will ultimately be passed on to consumers. The question, then, is whether the benefits outweigh the costs."

The Consumer Choice Coalition is participating in several panels this week at the FTC's workshop on the proposed TSR changes. Jim Miller and some members of the Coalition will be presenting data from the economic study.

The Consumer Choice Coalition is a cross-industry coalition of companies and associations concerned with preserving consumer choice in the marketplace.

For more information on the Consumer Choice Coalition's economic impact study, to request a copy of the study, or to schedule an interview with the study director, Jim Miller, please contact S. Nelson at 202-486-7575 or e-mail: consumerchoiceco@aol.com.