France bans cold-calling telemarketers

France's ban on unsolicited solicitations comes into effect next week, protecting consumers from telemarketers and other intrusive sales pitches. Acknowledging that its "opt-out" system (as found in other countries) had only served the hucksters, the Fourth Republic is trying something new: actually stopping them.

Now, "businesses are prohibited from contacting consumers without their prior consent," said Alice Vilcot, chief of staff at the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Prevention of Fraud. "That consent can be withdrawn at any time."

The government says the law is a response to years of consumer complaints. Authorities estimate that about three-quarters of people in France receive at least one unsolicited sales call every week, and many receive more.

Serious fines, too: of up to $435,000 per call for the company and $87,000 for indivudal callers themselves. The loopholes: you can opt-in (for example, tricked or dark-patterned into checkbox consent) and be called "if they already have a contractual relationship" with you.

France's new law has raised concerns in Morocco, where the minister of employment, Younes Sekkouri, told lawmakers up 50,000 jobs were at risk in the country's call centers.

Germany has also banned telemarketing calls. The U.S. has an ineffective "Do Not Call" registry with so many exceptions it effectively facilitated the modern telemarketing industry. The U.K. has a similar opt-out system, with stricter rules and fines for calling people who opt out.

You can measure the generations by how they answer these calls. Boomers just answer all of them and get had. Gen X applies screening and interaction heuristics that don't work and get angry. Millennials anxiously avoid answering, then pick up because they don't want to miss out. Zoomers pick up without answering. Gen Alpha doesn't pick up. Gen Beta don't have phones.