On the topic of email spam, people periodically discover the solution of "sender pays," in which spammers are charged for sending unwanted email. Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff argue that telemarketers ought to pay for the privelege of calling you.

The classic role of government is to establish a system of property rights and then to get out of the way to let entitlement flow to highest valuers. But the Do Not Call registry needlessly prevents you from selling a scarce resource -- your time and attention. Telemarketers could call from a reverse 900 number. That way, you would get paid for taking the call...

households that sign up for the Do Not Call registry should have the right to authorize their phone company to connect any calls that meet the household's price. Just think of it: You could charge different prices for different times of day or for different types of calls. You could even be given the option of hitting a button to waive the compensation -- because you felt that a particular charitable pitch was particularly worthy