Victory... for evil. If you're one of the 6 billion people on the planet who were eagerly awaiting October 1st, when the national Do-Not-Call list kicked into action, you're going to be disappointed. A federal judge has just ruled that the Federal Trade Commission exceeded its statutory authority when it established the list. Hence, no more Do-Not-Call list, at least for now.
Actually, I can't get too upset about this; while I think telemarketers are slightly below Uday and Qusay on the humanity scale, I applaud any judge who takes the Constitution seriously enough to require regulatory agencies to have legal authority for their actions. Although, frankly, the ruling (text here) seems somewhat shaky; the court found that even though Congress appropriated money for the FTC to run the list, Congress hadn't authorized the FTC to establish it. But it's not as if this will have any long lasting impact; if the decision isn't overturned on appeal, authorization should sail through Congress, given that 50 million Americans cared enough to sign up. This is exactly the sort of feel-good legislation Congress excels at.