By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon claims MCI, AT & T and Southwestern Bell have violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act by continuing to call Missouri residents for a one-year period after the consumers asked them to stop.
In Missouri, phone companies are exempt from the state's No Call List. Nixon says his federal suit is part of a new offensive to block telemarketers from using that loophole:
"And with that new offensive comes a new responsibility for Missouri consumers that are on the No Call List to stand up for their rights, to say when they're called, 'don't call me again," Nixon said. "And if they get called again by that telemarketing company or that phone company or that credit card company, to call us and complain."
Nixon criticizes Missouri lawmakers whom he says failed to vote on closing the state exemption.