To a point I agree with the Madman. Yes, there are a lot of jobs to be lost if that whole industry goes south. But sellers will find other ways to get their word out, and there will be more jobs available stuffing envelopes for direct mail marketing and such. It could also bring the internet industry out of the hole because without the ability to make "cold calls," some of these companies might need to create websites. Oh, the horror! :p

Aside from the annoyance factor of being disturbed during dinner, increasingly these telemarketers, (even so-called legitimate ones), have started acting like scam artists. Who else has gotten a call from a guy at some company called "U.S. National Financing" or something like that which went something like this:

Caller: "Hello Mr. Smith, your government-secured debt consolidation loan has been approved, but we never got your registration form. We absolutely need you to fill out that form and return it to us so processing of your loan can be completed..."

(Then you say you never applied for a loan.)

Caller: "Oh, what, you never recieved it? Oh my..."

(You say something like 'No, I didn't apply for a loan.')

Caller: "Well, it's already been approved. Hmmmmm, OK, we'll get this taken care of right away. Give me your address and I'll mail you another form today. It is very important that you fill it out completely and return it in the postage paid envelope. We'll get it processed immediately, I assure you...."

And on and on it will go. They won't give up until you either give them your address or hang up on them. Never.

I always hang up, but as my parents get older, (in their 70's now), I see them increasingly getting forgetful about little stuff.

If one of those people got ahold of my extremely polite, elderly mom (who doesn't believe in just hanging up on people) she could think she actually had to fill out some forms for this persistent asshole, give him her address and wind up getting a "loan" she doesn't need, at an extremely high interest rate, that she never, ever would have sought out on her own.

Nope, these people are evil and they all should be put out of the "cold calling" business.