[mili]

Well I cannot stop giggling.

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday that DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) would pay $5.4 million to settle charges that the satellite television operator had violated the FTC's rule against calling people who have asked not to receive sales calls.

The FTC said it was the largest civil penalty the agency has ever announced in a case enforcing a consumer protection law.

A complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles by the FTC names DirecTV and five firms that conducted telemarketing on its behalf for calls made to consumers listed on the national "do not call" registry.

Settlements with DirecTV and two of the telemarketing firms and their principals were filed along with the complaint.

"This multimillion dollar penalty drives home a simple point: Sellers are on the hook for calls placed on their behalf," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said in a statement.

DirecTV, the top U.S. satellite TV company, denied any violation of the telemarketing sales in court papers but said it wanted to settle the charges.

In a news release, DirecTV said the majority of complaints the FTC received were related to calls placed by a small number of former independent retailers who ignored DirecTV policies prohibiting unauthorized telemarketing.

"DirecTV has agreed to continue to closely monitor independent retailers to ensure that their telemarketing practices comply with the law and DirecTV's polices," the company said.

DirecTV shares were barely changed at $13.76 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Separately, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said on Monday that DirecTV had agreed to pay $5 million to 21 states to settle an investigation into it's marketing and advertising practices.

Spitzer's investigation started in March 2003 after the states got complaints from customers who could not view some blacked-out programs, including sports events. Others said they could not receive all the local channels that they had expected to receive.

The company also charged an early termination fee for customers who signed up for a free programming trial offer but then backed out before the programming period expired, Spitzer's office said.