The FTC’s new rules make it illegal for companies to make automated sales calls unless they have written consent from the person receiving the call. But other calls – including surveys, informational calls such as flight cancellation alerts and calls from politicians and charities – are exempt.

Violators will face penalties of up to $16,000 per call, the FTC said.

The new requirement is part of amendments to the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, which already required companies to provide an opt-out mechanism on automated calls and prohibited telemarketers from calling customers on its Do Not Call registry.

Such rules seem to be a mixed blessing for telephone researchers. Industry representatives have welcomed them on the grounds that they reinforce the distinction between research and telemarketing, but some commentators have more recently blamed do-not-call lists for declining response rates in telephone research, claiming that most people don’t distinguish between surveys and other unwanted calls, and resent receiving them.