"Filling out a survey form or mailing in a completed contest entry or taking some business up on its offer of free product might be construed as establishing a business relationship with that entity, a condition that would allow that group to make un-asked-for sales pitches over the telephone despite that particular consumer's inclusion on the national "leave me alone" list:
Even if you put your number on the National Do Not Call Registry, a company with which you have an established business relationship may call you for up to 18 months after your last purchase or delivery from it, or your last payment to it, unless you ask the company not to call again. (In that case, the company must honor your request not to call. If they subsequently call you again, they may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000.) Also, if you make an inquiry to a company or submit an application to it, for three months afterwards the company can call you. If you make a specific request to that company not to call you, however, then the company may not call you, even if you have an established business relationship with that company. No doubt companies will attempt to claim that a completed survey form or sweepstakes entry constitutes a request for information. And if you answer a survey that asks you about six different brands or types of products, you might very well be putting yourself back on multiple telemarketing lists. "