A "family values" media watchdog group called the Dove Foundation hopes to clean up Hollywood by making vaguely sinister computerized phone calls to millions of people all around the country.

In recent months Dove has muscled its way to the very top of the whocalled.us annoyance call list with nearly 900 complaints from coast to coast. It turns out the non-profit is conducting a nationwide "survey" targeted determinedly at mothers and grandmothers, which it aims to present to those godless heathens running the entertainment industry.

"Never before has an opinion poll been taken of such a large number of people," Dove explains on its website. "We will present our findings to the studio heads, and to the national media. This is sure to make headlines in the news. That is why your participation is so important!"

And the best part is, to participate, all you have to do is answer your phone! And if you miss the call, Dove's computer will call over and over again! Several times a week! At 8:00 in the morning! It'll call your mobile phone! It'll call you if you're on the Do Not Call List!

The calls are characterized by someone asking for the "lady of the house," and inquiring whether there are any young children or grandchildren at home. (Nothing creepy about that). The caller is reportedly prone to hanging up on people who ask too many questions, or who complain.

The Dove Foundation is a Michigan-based non-profit with a half-a-million dollar budget and a slew of conservative celebrities on its advisory board, including radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger, movie critic Michael Medved, and Lisa Whelchel, who played Blair on the Facts of Life. It's known for reviewing movies and TV shows, and issuing a seal of approval to the few that meet its cleanliness standards. (Example, Rocky Balboa almost passed, "however, there is one GD uttered by Paulie in a fit of anger," the reviewer laments. "While many people might consider that term to accurately express the passion of the moment, Dove always draws the line at "'Biblical profanity.'")

Dove is also known for a lawsuit filed last year by Missouri's attorney general accusing the org of using its non-profit status to evade the state's no-call list while shilling for a for-profit DVD-seller. Non-profits can call anyone they want, you see, but businesses can't, and the Dove Foundation's not-so-scientific survey ends with an invitation to a follow up call from Feature Films For Families Inc. about the many quality, family-friendly DVDs it sells.

In August, Dove and Feature Films paid $70,000 to settle the lawsuit, without admitting any wrongdoing. Dove says it's stopped calling numbers in the Show Me State. The rest of the country is still ringing.

The big mystery of the Dove Foundation campaign is the identity of the eerily-calm "Cammie" – the voice behind many of the calls. Is she a sophisticated computer with voice-recognition capabilities, or a real woman whose fembot ease derives from the blissful certitude of the righteous?

Dove Foundation co-founder Richard Rolfe cleared it up for me. The caller is a digitized voice, controlled by push-button by human operators who each handle several calls at once and don't talk.

Rolfe also apologized for the reported hang-ups and unwanted repeat calls. "Certainly, the system that’s being used is an electronic system, and it is subject to error, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that we are causing people."

But not everyone finds the calls unwelcome, he points out.

"Over seven million households have participated in this survey," Rolfe told me. "Willingly. I would even say enthusiastically."

Rolfe referred me to the organization's FAQ on the survey. Incidentally, yesterday the title of the FAQ page, and others on Dove Foundation's site, was "Hacked by Foreverislam." Today it's back to normal.