What Does New Jersey’s “Seinfeld Bill” Mean For Spam Call Victims?
I’m sure you’ve been hearing about the “Seinfeld Bill”, but what exactly is it? Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill that is otherwise known as the Seinfeld Bill based on a super famous scene from the classic sitcom. Although the hilarious nickname for the bill is distracting, what exactly is it? Well, it’s actually super simple.
What is New Jersey's "Seinfeld Bill"?
New Jersey’s newest law states that telemarketers will have to identify not only themselves but also who they represent when the phone call initially beings. Also, this all has to happen within the first 30 seconds of the phone call.
What Does NJ's "Seinfeld Bill" actually mean?
It just is saying that telemarketers need to state their name and business before carrying on with their call. It doesn't necessarily stop them from calling, but maybe we'll start to see the callers take a backseat and will see less spam on our phones. Who knows! It's also to protect elders from falling victim to scams according to nj.gov., which happen way too often.
Everyone is a victim of spam or telemarketers calls, so hopefully this will eliminate some of the nonsense we experience when we pick up those calls. You may be thinking, what does this all have to do with Seinfeld though?
The popular 90s sitcom has an amazing scene where Jerry deals with a telemarketer in the best way possible. Jerry picks up the phone while he has guests over and when the telemarketers start asking questions, he responds with “Why don’t you give me your home number and I’ll call you later.” The telemarketer then tells him they “aren’t allowed to do that to which Jerry responds, “So I guess you don’t want anyone calling you at home? Now you know how I feel” Not only is this hilarious, but if you watch the scene, it pretty much explains one of New Jersey’s newest bills.
The bill will officially go into effect in 7 months and was signed last night. You can find more info on it, here!