So many people are trying to register their phone numbers on the federal do-not-call list, the website has crashed and the phone lines have a constant busy tone.

"It appears the Do Not Call Registry site was so popular it brought down their server. I am getting ... Page cannot be displayed errors," wrote Alienc, of Riverview, N.B.

"Great idea but [too] bad the DNCR registry web site is unavailable......Typical," wrote VACMAN, of Nova Scotia.

The popularity of the list was not unexpected. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has projected that of Canada's 27 million residential phone lines, which include cellphone numbers, 16 million would be on the do-not-call list within two years.

However, it's possible the CRTC didn't expect millions to try to join the list in the first week.

Two polls yesterday suggested that between 60 per cent and 72 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they intended to add their phone number to the list.

The CRTC has not yet returned calls by CBC.ca on the issue.

At least one commenter to CBC.ca questioned why the federal government couldn't build a website that could handle the high traffic.

"Come on people! With a national list everybody wants to be on being promoted on the airways as starting today, did you honestly think their servers would be able to handle the millions of hits it was bound to get today," wrote Dmiddle, of Winnipeg.

"I knew from the get go that this was going to happen, so I have no plans to sign up for at least a couple weeks.

"Besides, they had to have known this would happen. So why weren't they prepared? But it's a government program, so why should we expect they would anticipate the logical outcome of such a start. If they had just allowed people to register starting oh say a couple months ago, with the knowledge that it would not become effective until today, people wouldn't have been in such a mad rush the moment the doors opened. Sheesh!!!!" wrote DMiddle.

Not surprisingly, conspiracy theories, humorous or otherwise, are already developing about the "true" reason people cannot register.

"The corporate welfare bums have hacked the web site and knocked it out of service," wrote McWal_Job, of Athabasca, Alta.

"Don't try to register for the DNCL... the website just shut down and the phone lines don't work! I guess the CRTC has put themselves on the list!" wrote Lorne Bellamy, of Bradford, Ont.

People can register their phone numbers in two ways. They can sign up online at LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca or call the toll-free numbers 1-866-580-3625 or 1-888-362-5889 (for the hearing impaired).