To ring in the New Year, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released an order imposing strict limits on the number of non-telemarketing, prerecorded or artificial voice calls that can be made to residential phone...more
Illegal robocalls are more than annoying, they often involve fraudulent schemes. These calls can be particularly pernicious when made to hospitals or health facilities. Hospitals face a wide range of illegal robocalls,...more
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) bars certain types of automated calls without first obtaining the consent of the called party. Indeed, with uncapped statutory damages, the TCPA is a staple of the plaintiff’s bar,...more
With former Vice President Joe Biden winning the 2020 presidential election and Republicans poised to maintain control of the Senate, the American Indian Law & Policy Group looks ahead to 2021 and beyond to see how this...more
Jan. 6, 2021, is the deadline to begin automatically sending location information along with 911 calls made from fixed phone lines in hotels, apartment complexes, offices or other businesses locations. ...more
The FCC will take up yet another order implementing the telecommunications industry-developed framework to verify that the information that appears in the caller ID is accurate. The framework is designed to combat illegal...more
Last week, the Federal Communication Commission’s (“FCC”) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (“Bureau”) resolved two of the many pending petitions seeking relief and clarification concerning the requirements of the...more
In an order released on April 30, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made more airwaves available for use by wireless devices that monitor patients’ vital signs. The agency long ago set aside spectrum for what...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established a $200 million COVID-19 Telehealth Program, as authorized by the CARES Act, and separately created a $100 million, three-year Connected Care Pilot Program. The...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order on March 20, 2020, confirming that the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an “emergency” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) relieving hospitals, health...more
We have previously issued several alerts regarding the ability of eligible tribal entities to apply for certain airwave licenses that can be used for wireless internet access and other services. The window for applying for...more
Multi-line voice communications systems sold or installed after Feb. 16, 2020, must comply with new E911 obligations. These requirements apply to IP-based, cloud communications services as well as traditional TDM-based...more
As we previously reported, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will provide rural tribes with an opportunity to apply for free wireless airwaves in the 2.5 GHz band. The FCC has now set the window during which...more
Compromise robocall legislation, called the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (“Act”), is likely to be enacted soon. The Act enhances the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) enforcement powers, mandates adoption of the...more
12/3/2019
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Bad Actors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Do Not Call List ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCC ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Robocalling ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safe Harbors ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comment on ways to improve the dialogue between tribes and carriers that provide subsidized telephone and broadband services to tribal areas using federal universal...more
In the latest twist in the net neutrality saga, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or “Commission”) 2017 decision to once again classify...more
10/10/2019
/ Broadband ,
Communications Act 2003 ,
FCC ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Net Neutrality ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Preemption ,
Public Safety ,
Telecommunications ,
Title II
On Sept. 18, 2019, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on tribal access to spectrum. Spectrum are slices of airwaves used to send signals to wireless devices like smartphones. One of the key messages was...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released an order making available certain airwaves for broadband wireless services on rural tribal lands. These airwaves, in the 2.5 GHz spectrum band, were previously set...more
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has launched a review of arrangements between building owners and communications companies that govern the provision of communication services to building tenants. The purpose of...more
7/17/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Broadband ,
Competition ,
Exclusive Dealing Agreements ,
Exclusive Use ,
FCC ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Leaseback ,
Local Ordinance ,
Preemption ,
Property Owners ,
Public Comment ,
Revenue Sharing ,
Rulemaking Process ,
San Francisco ,
State and Local Government ,
Wireless Industry
On May 21, the CFPB published its long-awaited proposed rule on debt collection practices (“Proposed Rule”) in large part to address application of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) to modern collection issues....more
6/5/2019
/ Bright-Line Rule ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
FCC ,
FDCPA ,
Opt-Outs ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Proposed Rules ,
Robocalling ,
TCPA
In its ongoing efforts to tackle the proliferation of illegal or unwanted “robocalls,” the FCC has released a draft order that would authorize all providers of voice services to offer to their customers call blocking as a...more
As directed by Congress in last year’s RAY BAUM’s Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) delivered to the House and Senate Commerce committees its evaluation of broadband coverage in Indian country. The FCC’s bottom...more
Late last month, we warned that pending litigation in the Fourth and Ninth Circuits seeking to have the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) declared unconstitutional based on the statutory government debt collection...more
First Amendment challenges to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) are in the midst of a revival. The TCPA makes it unlawful to call or text a cell phone using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or...more
3/29/2019
/ Commercial Speech ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Debt Collection ,
FCC ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Reed v Town of Gilbert ,
Standard of Review ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing
We recently reported that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) had published a draft order establishing a reassigned number database. The database would provide a central source for callers to determine whether the...more