The list is moving ahead for now, but the court fight continues.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The national do-not-call list will resume accepting phone numbers Thursday from people who do not want to be bothered by telemarketers.

The Federal Trade Commission shut down new registration last week after a federal court ordered the agency to stop operating the list of more than 52 million phone numbers. But the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver temporarily blocked the lower court’s decision Tuesday, allowing the registry to restart.

The FTC said Wednesday that consumers can register home or cell phone numbers with the free government service by visiting the Web site www.donotcall.gov or calling 1-888-382-1222, beginning Thursday at 8 a.m. EDT.

Late Saturday, people who registered before Aug. 31 can file complaints about telemarketers at the same Internet site and toll-free number.

People who add new numbers have to wait three months before filing a complaint and it might take that long for them to see a reduction in telemarketing calls. Telemarketers calling listed numbers could face thousands of dollars in fines for each violation.

The list is intended to block about 80 percent of telemarketing calls, with exemptions for charities, pollsters and calls on behalf of politicians.

A company also may call people on the list if it recently has done business with them.

A legal saga has enveloped the program for more than two weeks, involving the White House, Congress and several federal courts.

The list is moving ahead for now, but the court fight continues.

An appeals court will hear oral arguments in Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 10 on lower court rulings that the FTC lacks authority to run the program and the list violates telemarketers’ free-speech rights by barring calls from businesses but not charities.

Federal officials worked around a court decision blocking the list to get it operating on schedule last week and many telemarketers agreed to abide by it despite the legal confusion. Even though improvised government fixes left holes in the list’s protections, the steps appear to have made a difference.

“We have heard that for many who put phone numbers on the national registry, it’s already working,” FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said at a news conference. “The phones are ringing less often, the house is a little quieter and there are fewer interruptions during dinner and homework.”

The Federal Communications Commission, which stepped in to handle all do-not-call enforcement while the FTC was restrained, has received about 2,000 complaints since the list went into effect Oct. 1, FCC Chairman Michael Powell said.

He said that while the volume of complaints appears to be declining, the agency has already begun investigating telemarketer violations of the do-not-call list.

The government requires telemarketers to pay to access the list so they can know who not to call. The annual fee costs $25 for each area code a company calls, with a maximum cost of $7,375 for access to all U.S. numbers on the list.

The legal fight forced the FTC to shut down the service that lets telemarketers get the list. Many had it already, but those who did not could still call people without reprisals.

Muris said telemarketers can get the list beginning Friday. Those who did not have the list before the shutdown must obey its restrictions by Oct. 17.