No more sales calls at dinner time...

Most people have experienced that annoying ring of the phone just as dinner is put on the table. When you answer, you find it's not a call from a friend or family member, or even from work. It's someone calling to sell you something -- a telemarketer. Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits to prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call. Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches programmed to be played over the phone via automatic dialing. Telemarketing has come under fire in recent years, being viewed as an annoyance by most.

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008.
https://www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx

Some states have their own Do Not Call programs. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Do Not Call Registration Site lets you sign up for Massachusetts' Do Not Call list. It identifies a residential phone number as one which is not to receive telemarketing calls, it's free and available for residential telephone customers, and it will help reduce (but not eliminate) telemarketing calls to your home.
https://www.govone.com/man/welcome.asp

PrivacyRights.org has a guide that explains what laws protect you and what you can do to eliminate sales calls, with emphasis on the National Do Not Call Registry.
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs5-tmkt.htm