Author: stefen

Court Affirms Criminal Penalties in Rhode Island for Not Registering as a Debt Collector

A Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) ruling this week in a federal court in Rhode Island affirmed that state law does allow for criminal penalties for debt collectors who fail to register as such under the state’s laws. The court found that the plaintiff could sue the defendant in Laccinole v. Gulf Coast Collection Bureau… Continue reading Court Affirms Criminal Penalties in Rhode Island for Not Registering as a Debt Collector

TCPA Outlook for 2023 Webinar Recap

Earlier today we hosted a webinar, TCPA Outlook for 2023 with Czar of TCPAWorld, Eric J. Troutman. It was a wide ranging, informative, somewhat off the cuff discussion between Eric and Contact Center Compliance Director of Compliance Services, Arvell Craig. They covered the current state of the marketing and calling industry and what likely lies in… Continue reading TCPA Outlook for 2023 Webinar Recap

FCC Reconsiders Consent Standards Related to TRACED Act Exemption Review

On December 27, nearly 3 years to the day since the passage of the TRACED Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continued to tweak the law’s implementation with an Order on Reconsideration and Declaratory Ruling that addressed industry criticism of previous TRACED Act mandated rulings. Namely, it restored the previous standard of consent for calls… Continue reading FCC Reconsiders Consent Standards Related to TRACED Act Exemption Review

Court Nixes $14 Million HelloFresh TCPA Settlement

Last year, HelloFresh entered into a $14 million class action settlement for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This week, a court threw out that settlement due to issues relating to the composition of the class and the different kinds of TCPA violations committed by the defendant. The First Circuit did not accept… Continue reading Court Nixes $14 Million HelloFresh TCPA Settlement

New York Requires DNC Disclosures to Come at the Outset of Calls

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed new telemarketing legislation relating to do not call (DNC) list disclosures. The law requires that telemarketers give call recipients the option to be added to the caller’s internal DNC list and specifies that those disclosures must come at the outset of the call. Hochul praised the law, saying, “This… Continue reading New York Requires DNC Disclosures to Come at the Outset of Calls

FCC Adopts Rule That Ringless Voicemails Are Robocalls

On November 21, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a declaratory ruling and order officially confirming that ringless voicemail (RVM) calls are subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) restrictions on robocalls. This comes in response to a petition from All About the Message, LLC requesting a declaration that RVM is not subject to… Continue reading FCC Adopts Rule That Ringless Voicemails Are Robocalls

Ninth Circuit Rules That TCPA ATDS Restrictions Apply Only to Devices That Randomly Generate Phone Numbers

The process of Circuit Courts interpreting and applying the Supreme Court’s automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) definition from the Facebook v. Duguid decision reached another milestone when the notorious Ninth Circuit ruled in Borden v. Efinancial, LLC that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) ATDS restrictions should only apply to devices that “generate and dial random or sequential telephone numbers”.

FCC Tells Service Providers to Shut Off Traffic for Student Loan Scam Robocallers

On Thursday November 10, the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice notifying U.S.-based voice service providers that they may block robocalls from a particular voice service provider whom the FCC had identified as being responsible for scam calls relating to student loans. The notice identifies Urth Access, LLC as… Continue reading FCC Tells Service Providers to Shut Off Traffic for Student Loan Scam Robocallers

Pennsylvania AG Sues Marketer for Supplying Leads to Robocallers

Last week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that he had filed a lawsuit against a digital marketer for generating leads that allegedly resulted in “hundreds of thousands of unwanted robocalls to be placed to Pennsylvania consumers.” Shapiro’s lawsuit alleges that Fluent, Inc. and its subsidiaries “collected personal information, including telephone numbers, and that was then sold to telemarketing companies.”