The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has complied with the directive in the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) to review the regulatory exceptions to restrictions on...more
The FCC has taken two more steps to implement the "Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act" (TRACED Act), under which, as we've reported, it has implemented a number of actions toward stemming illegal...more
Taking its next step to implement the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by seeking...more
Update July 09: The FCC has issued a Public Notice announcing that beginning July 27, 2020, voice service providers must begin maintaining records of the most recent date each phone number was permanently disconnected and...more
Update July 09: The Supreme Court has agreed to resolve the circuit split on the autodialer issue by granting the petition for certiorari in the Facebook v. Duguid case, in what will surely be one of the most closely watched...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., affirming the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit's holding that the "government-debt" exception to the Telephone...more
7/8/2020
/ ATDS ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Barr v American Association of Political Consultants Inc ,
Cell Phones ,
Compelling Governmental Interest ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Content-Based Restrictions ,
Debt Collection ,
Exceptions ,
SCOTUS ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Strict Scrutiny Standard ,
TCPA
In Remanding DISH Telemarketing Damage Award, Appeals Court Decides Collateral Issue That Could Have Far-Reaching Operational Implications - On March 26, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued its...more
FCC Asks "Gateway Service Providers" to Help Traceback Efforts of Foreign-Originating Calls, While FTC Warns VoIP Providers Against Facilitating Violations -
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has deepened the split among federal appeals courts as to what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS, or “autodialer”) for purposes of equipment restrictions...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to review whether a 2015 amendment to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violates the First Amendment and/or if it perhaps renders the statute unconstitutional as a...more
1/17/2020
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Barr v American Association of Political Consultants Inc ,
Certiorari ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Content-Based Restrictions ,
Debt Collection ,
Discrimination ,
FDCPA ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Government Debt-Exception ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Solicitor General ,
Strict Scrutiny Standard ,
TCPA
As 2019 wound down, Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the “Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act” (TRACED Act) aimed at turning back a tide of illegal “robocalls” (54 billion in...more
Commission Also Proposes to Mandate “SHAKEN/STIR” Caller ID Authentication If Major Voice Service Providers Fail to Voluntarily Adopt By Year-End -
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken its most...more
With Hobbs Act Case Pending in Supreme Court, 4th Circuit’s Decision May Implicate Fate of Other FCC-Created Exceptions and Allowances Under TCPA’s Automated-Call Ban -
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Second Report and Order in its Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Robocalls proceeding to create a comprehensive database of phone numbers subject to reassignment...more
On September 20, 2018, in Marks v. Crunch San Diego, the Ninth Circuit became the latest federal appeals court to weigh in after the D.C. Circuit’s decision last March invalidating the Federal Communications Commission’s...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Public Notice seeking comment on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” (or “autodialer”), potential liability...more
On Friday March 16, 2018 the D.C. Circuit issued its long awaited decision on various challenges to the Federal Communication Commissions (FCC) 2015 Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order (Omnibus Order) on the Telephone...more
On August 11, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Report and Order (“R&O”) adopting rules to implement provisions of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which amended the Telephone Consumer Protection Act...more
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Spokeo v. Robins that plaintiffs must allege a concrete and particularized injury to meet Article III standing requirements, federal district courts across the country are...more
Last November, in pushing through the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Congress inserted minor amendments to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to create a new exception to the TCPA’s prohibition on autodialed and...more
A recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant cannot terminate a putative class action by offering the representative plaintiff complete relief, rejecting some courts’ dismissals of class action...more
President Barak Obama recently signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314), which resolved major differences between the White House and Congress, thereby funding the federal government for the next two...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently became the first federal appellate court to apply the Federal Communications Commission’s declaratory ruling that expanded the notion of what constitutes an...more
11/5/2015
/ Appeals ,
Cell Phones ,
Declaratory Rulings ,
FCC ,
Mobile Devices ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Right to Privacy ,
Robocalling ,
Smartphones ,
Summary Judgment ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Text Messages ,
Wireless Devices ,
Yahoo!
Telemarketers and others who may have been wondering how the Federal Communications Commission’s recent and – to industry participants – concerning Declaratory Ruling and Order on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)...more
8/21/2015
/ Call Blocking ,
Declaratory Rulings ,
FCC ,
Mobile Broadband Services ,
Right to Privacy ,
Robocalling ,
Spoofing ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages
In potentially its most significant action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) since the 2003 overhaul of its rules ushering in the National Do-Not-Call Registry and other updates, the Federal Communications...more
7/15/2015
/ Banks ,
CAN-SPAM Act ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Debt Collectors ,
Do Not Call List ,
FCC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Inmates ,
Robocalling ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages ,
Unsolicited Phone Calls