On Feb. 8, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a unanimous declaratory ruling confirming the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) restrictions on the use of “artificial or prerecorded voice” include...more
As abusive robocalls remain unpopular both politically and, in general, universally among the American people, lawmakers have once again thrown out the opening salvo in efforts to legislate against them this week with the “Do...more
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and implementing rules by the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) bar many types of calls or texts without first having obtained the consent of the called party....more
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released an order finding that ringless voicemails constitute calls subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Companies sending prerecorded or artificial messages...more
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the restriction in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act barring use of autodialers to make calls and text messages to cell phones does not apply to programmed lists of telephone...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
Intrusive, unwanted calls are the Federal Communications Commission’s top consumer complaint. As part of its efforts to combat robocalls, the FCC has released two draft orders that are slated to be approved at its next open...more
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) is reconsidering its approach to key Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) issues following the D.C. Circuit overturning portions of the 2015 Omnibus TCPA Order. Although...more
The long-awaited ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) 2015 Omnibus Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) order was finally released on...more