Do not call list could be expanded, consumers say

Uncle Sam’s Do Not Call list was a summer blockbuster hit, to be sure, with Americans swamping a government registry with more than 28 million phone numbers the first month.

A poll of 300 people offers some insight into how they love the idea of blocking telemarketers.

More than 60 percent said the list ought to be expanded to include religious and political organizations, and 55 percent said they would prefer not to have a charity call them. Nearly half, 49 percent, didn’t want telephone survey and polling firms calling.

And why stop with the phone? Eighty-three percent said the government ought to implement a similar system for spam, or junk e-mail.

The poll was conducted in late June by market researcher InsightExpress.

Consumers can register for the do-not-call list by calling (888) 382-1222 or visiting www.donotcall.gov.

Technology

Survey: Midwesterners lag nation in Internet use

People living near the coasts and in Rocky Mountain states log on to the Internet more than Southerners and Midwesterners, according to a new study.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project, which has studied the growth of Internet use for the past few years, said the difference in regional use was largely due to better education and income levels in areas where it was more common.

The study found that 59 percent of U.S. adults had access to the Internet by the end of 2002, an increase from 50 percent in 2000.

Oregon and Washington state had the highest percentage of use, 68 percent. Next came New England with 66 percent, and California with 65 percent. Sixty-four percent went on the Internet in the Rocky Mountain states and the capital region of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Internet users made up 60 percent of the people living in the border states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

In the Midwest, Internet use ranged between 55 percent in the southern part to 59 percent in the north. Usage was lowest — 48 percent — in the South.