50 million Americans were looking forward to peaceful family dinners starting next week. But with just days to go before its October 1st implementation, the federal government’s Do-Not-Call program, allowing citizens to shut out telemarketers, has been thrown for a loop.

There’s a telemarketing tug-of-war going on between the U.S. courts and Congress: a battle over privacy rights, telemarketing jobs, and the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech.

Click the “Listen” link to hear about the future of telemarketing calls in your household.

Guests:

Caroline Mayer is a staff writer for the Washington Post

Robert Bulmash, president and founder of Private Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that lobbies to protect individuals’ privacy from direct marketing

Martin Redish, Professor of Law and Public Policy at Northwestern University

Anita Ramasastry, Associate Director of the Center for Law, Commerce & Technology at the University of Washington