Katharine Webster, AP (ap@telecom-digest.org) Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:37:28 -0600

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By KATHARINE WEBSTER, Associated Press Writer A Republican organization agreed to stop making automated phone calls to New Hampshire residents on the federal do-not-call list. But the Democrats said Monday that the calls still violate federal rules. The National Republican Congressional Committee agreed on Sunday to stop calling homes on the registry after a citizen complained to the state attorney general. Under New Hampshire law, political campaigns can contact people on the do-not-call list, but cannot use automated recordings. The calls criticize Democratic congressional challenger Paul Hodes, who is locked in a tight race against Republican Rep. Charles Bass. Bass issued a statement Sunday asking all outside groups to stop the calls and said he was pleased that the NRCC had agreed. But a spokesman for Hodes said the calls also violate a Federal Communications Commission rule that says automated calls must identify their source at the beginning of the message. One of the calls features a woman who opens by saying, "Hello. I'm calling with information about Paul Hodes," according to a recording released by the state Democratic Party. She goes on to criticize Hodes' position on taxes and ends by saying the call was paid for by the NRCC and was not coordinated with the Bass campaign. Alex Burgos, an NRCC spokesman, said the group believes its messages comply with all federal laws. The NRCC is using "robo calls" in at least 53 competitive House races nationwide. The calls have led to a few complaints to the FCC. "This is the same kind of dirty tricks we've seen up here in the last couple of election cycles," Hodes spokesman Reid Cherlin said. In May, a former Republican National Committee official, James Tobin, was sentenced to 10 months behind bars for his role in the jamming of New Hampshire Democrats' telephones on Election Day 2002. He was the third person sent to prison in the case. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news and headlines, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html

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