The CRTC is refusing to identify three telemarketers accused of knowingly violating the national do-not-call list, according to a report by the Toronto Star.

The regulator will hold secret talks next week to determine if the telemarketers called any of the more than seven million Canadian numbers on the list. But a spokesman for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission declined to identify the telemarketers and refused to supply the newspaper with any files relating to the case, saying that at this stage they have only been accused of breaking the rules.

An access-to-information request made by the newspaper in July also failed to turn up any information. The Star said the CRTC replied by saying that "a thorough search of our files has revealed that there are no documents pertaining to your requests."

The do-not-call list took effect in September 2008. Companies that call persons registered on the list face fines of up to $15,000 per call while individuals can be charged $1,500 per call.

Under the rules of the list, telemarketers are only identified if they are found to have violated the rules. The CRTC spokesman said they are not named beforehand in order to encourage them to pay the fines rather than contesting the charge, which would be more likely if they were publicly outed.

Leonard Katz, CRTC's vice-chairman of telecommunications, has said as many as 700 telemarketing companies were under investigation, the newspaper said.

The do-not-call list has been heavily criticized since its inception. Critics have said the rules allow exemptions to too many organizations, including registered charities, political parties and candidates, opinion polling firms and companies with whom customers have an existing business relationship.

Opposition members of Parliament earlier this summer also called on the regulator to change the rules and identify violators earlier in its investigation process.

The CRTC itself has come under fire recently.

A petition calling for the CRTC to be dissolved and replaced with a new regulating body started up on the weekend and, as of Friday afternoon, had more than 3,300 signatures. Mike Lerner, who works for a software company in Ottawa, plans to submit it to Heritage Minister James Moore if it reaches 10,000 signatures.

One of the requests in the petition is a call for more transparency in the regulator's decision-making process.