First it's on, then it's off...now it looks like it's on again.

The House of Representatives on Thursday granted the Federal Trade Commission authority to create a national "do-not-call" list for telemarketers on Thursday and the Senate is expected to follow suit.

The quick action comes a day after a federal judge ruled the FTC needed a congressional mandate to create the wildly popular list.

I'm not a big fan of government regulation, but I agree with the sentiment. I think a law requiring telephone companies to flag your line as either open or closed to solicitation would make more sense, but what do I know.

What I'm curious about are solicitation laws. I couldn't find anything about solicitation laws in Texas except information regarding transactions made that way. Any legal people out there?

What I want to know is this: If I put up a "No Solicitation" sign in my front yard, is it illegal for someone to knock on my door and try to sell me something?

If it's not, I think it should be. I think there's a certain expectation of privacy at home, and a citizen should be able to restrict unwanted intrusions or disturbances to their homes. If I walk in a public place (a park, a mall, a sidewalk), I expect to be bombarded by advertising and solicitation. If I'm on the street, I'm fair game. But everyone should have the ability to protect the place they live from unwanted solicitation.

From what I understand, the telemarketer industry lawyers are trying to paint this as a free speech issue...which is bullshit. Again, if the KKK wants to hold a rally downtown, go for it. It's a public place. But they don't have the right to stand on my front lawn with a bullhorn, or march through my living room. Free speech is an issue for speech in the public domain, not in a place with an expectation of privacy.