Has this been posted? Consumer advocates ring alarm over robocalls to cellphones

Consumer advocates, including the Illinois and Indiana attorneys general, are sounding the alarm over proposed federal legislation that would allow companies to place robotic calls — using automated dialers to call and play recorded messages — to consumers' wireless mobile phones.

"It would open the floodgates to telemarketers and debt collectors to call at all hours of the day," said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Since 1991, autodialers and artificial or prerecorded voice messages to cellphones have generally been outlawed unless the consumer gave express consent, with few exceptions. The bill, introduced in September, would change that. It would allow use of "assistive technologies" — including machines that call 10,000 numbers a minute and sometimes leave dead air on the line — for calling cellphones without permission.

Supporters say "robocalling" could be used for such consumer-friendly features as reminding patients about a doctor appointment, alerting them to a flight delay or notifying them of a suspicion that their credit card has been compromised.

Still, consumer groups are lining up against the bill, saying companies already alert consumers with such calls by getting their permission first or using a human to place the call.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-10/business/ct-biz-1110-robocall-20111110_1_cellphones-robocalls-debt-collectors

version of the email that periodically goes out there about telemarketers and cell phones.

Here's the link to Snopes on that one:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp