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is this real ?

I registered my cell phone a while back when my sister received some cold calls on her phone, but this was released on the Federal Trade Commission site:

 

For Release: January 19, 2006

The Truth about Cell Phones and the Do Not Call Registry

The Federal Trade Commission today reiterated that despite the claims made in e-mails circulating on the Internet, consumers should not be concerned that their cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketers in the near future, and that it is not necessary to register cell phone numbers on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry to be protected from most telemarketing calls to cell phones.

The truth about cell phones and the DNC Registry is:

• Contrary to the e-mail, cell phone numbers are NOT being released to telemarketers, and you will NOT soon be getting telemarketing calls on your cell phone.
  
• There is NO deadline by which you must register your cell phone number on the Registry.
  
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent.
  
• The national associations representing telemarketers have stated that their clients do not intend to start calling consumers’ cell phones.
  
• There is only ONE DNC Registry. There is no separate registry for cell phones.
  
• The DNC Registry accepts registrations from both cell phones and land lines. You must call from the phone number that you want to register. If you register online, you must respond to a confirmation e-mail.
  
• While the telecommunications industry has been discussing the possibility of creating a wireless 411 directory, according to the FCC, even if a wireless 411 directory is established, most telemarketing calls to cell phones would still be illegal, regardless of whether the number is listed on the federal government’s National Do Not Call Registry.

In addition, according to the industry:

• Your number would not be included in a wireless 411 directory unless you wanted it to be (i.e., you will have to “opt-in”); and
  
• The wireless 411 directory would not be available in a printed, electronic, or Internet list for telemarketers. In other words, a list of numbers on the wireless 411 directory would not be made available to telemarketers.

For More Information

To learn more about the National DNC Registry and the rules that enforce it, visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov or the FCC at www.fcc.gov. For more information about a planned “wireless 411” directory, visit http://www.qsent.com/wireless411/index.shtml.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Mitchell J. Katz,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2161

STAFF CONTACT:

David Robbins,
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3747

(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/01/dnccellphones.htm)

is this real ?

NO. Here's the scoop from snopes.com:

cell phone

This is excerpted from the web site (I bolded some parts):

...numerous media articles, such as the following from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

There is a grain of truth in the message making it believable, but it's wrong on two counts: Not all cell phone numbers will be listed in the national directory planned for 2006. And telemarketers will not have access to the directory. It is illegal for marketers using auto-dialers — and most do — to call wireless phone numbers.

Here's the truth:

A national directory will be compiled, but numbers will be included on an opt-in basis. If a cell phone subscriber does nothing, the number will not be listed. When the directory is ready, it will be available only as part of the existing 411 directory service, accessed by calling in and asking for a specific number. It will not be published in a book or on the Internet. And it will not be sold to telemarketers.

Cell phone subscribers can list their numbers on the do-not-call registry if they choose, but there is no deadline to get on the list, as the e-mail messages now circulating suggest. Nonetheless, many consumers don't trust the Wireless 411 consortium to uphold their promises, and although Qsent and its clients plan to make the Wireless 411 service available sometime in 2006, its implementation is far from certain as the wireless companies are still contesting proposed legislation which seeks to regulate wireless phone directories.

So, although the gist of some warnings are correct in alerting consumers to a proposed directory of cell phone numbers, they are misleading in stating that such a directory will "soon be published" (the word "published" implies making a printed directory available, which the wireless consortium maintains they will not do) and in directing readers to sign up with the The National Do Not Call Registry. The latter step will not keep wireless customer listings out of the proposed Wireless 411 database — it will only add their phone numbers to a list of numbers off-limits to most telemarketers, a step which is premature (because the Wireless 411 directory has not yet been implemented) and largely unnecessary (because the Wireless 411 directory information is not supposed to be supplied to telemarketers, and because FCC regulations already in place block the bulk of telemarketing calls to cell phones).

Some versions of the exhortation to cell phone users to add their names to the Do Not Call Registry erroneously state there is a specific deadline for getting listed. Says Lois Greisman, the Federal Trade Commission official who oversees the anti-telemarketing registry: "There is no deadline; there never has been a deadline to register."

Adding one's cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry won't have any adverse effect, but customers should be aware of exactly what that action will and will not accomplish.