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 "THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA IS BUSINESS"
When Calvin Coolidge said this in the 1920's, there was generally only one way for consumers to get goods and services - they went to the store, reached into their pocket and produced sufficient legal tender to make the purchase. Back then, "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware) ruled the day, "consumer protection" agencies didn't exist, and sellers had few, if any, legal impediments regulating their sales.
Fast forward 90 years, and we find an ever-growing percentage of purchases taking place via the telephone and the internet, and cash has been supplanted by credit/debit cards. The business of America is still business - it's just that business happens much faster now and the potential for fraud and misrepresentation during the sales process has grown exponentially. Federal and state regulation has grown to meet the challenge, but many sellers find the rules to be burdensome and confusing.
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 As more and more people make their purchases via the telephone and internet, and as the use of good old-fashioned cash decreases in favor of credit, debit and "novel" payment methods, the balance of power in commerce has tilted in favor of sellers at the expense of consumers. The role of the Marketing Compliance Association and the Compliance Alliance Program is to help ensure balance in the marketplace by helping sellers to maintain compliance with state and federal rules governing telemarketing, online marketing, privacy, and payment practices.
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