FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling on Pharmaceutical Trial Recruitment Calls

The Federal Communications Communication (FCC) granted a petition for a Declaratory Ruling relating to an exemption from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for non-marketing calls aiming to recruit participants for pharmaceutical trials. The petition was originally filed by Acurian, Inc. in 2014. The ruling relates to an exemption from the TCPA’s restrictions against “making… Continue reading FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling on Pharmaceutical Trial Recruitment Calls

FCC Reviews TCPA Exemptions as Mandated by the TRACED Act

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released a Report and Order modifying the requirements for certain exemptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). These modifications follow a review of those exemptions first announced in October as a part of the FCC’s efforts to fulfill Section 8 of the TRACED Act. The main thrust of… Continue reading FCC Reviews TCPA Exemptions as Mandated by the TRACED Act

One Year Later: Tracking the Implementation of the TRACED Act

December 30, 2020 marks the one year anniversary of President Donald Trump signing the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act into law. The law, whose name is an acronym for Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence, is the first major federal telemarketing legislation in more than a decade. An addition to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA),… Continue reading One Year Later: Tracking the Implementation of the TRACED Act

TCPA vs. DNC

Telemarketing compliance is made difficult by the byzantine nature of telemarketing regulations. Any marketer can be forgiven for struggling to keep track of the varying levels of laws, regulatory agencies, and other enforcement mechanisms. However, there are two acronyms that loom large enough in the regulatory landscape that everybody knows them, even if they don’t really understand what they mean: TCPA and DNC.

TRACED Act NPRM: FCC Will Review TCPA Exemptions

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) outlining the next steps in the Commission’s ongoing efforts to implement the TRACED Act. This next round of rulemaking specifically pertains to the TRACED Act’s requirement’s related to exemptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) consent requirements for the use of… Continue reading TRACED Act NPRM: FCC Will Review TCPA Exemptions

FCC Clarifies COVID-19 TCPA Emergency Purposes Declaratory Ruling

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice yesterday clarifying the scope of the commission’s March 20, 2020 Declaratory Ruling about the “emergency purposes” exemption to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)  as it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic. The clarification is in regards to calls about plasma donation. In the March 20 declaration,… Continue reading FCC Clarifies COVID-19 TCPA Emergency Purposes Declaratory Ruling

SCOTUS Strikes Down Debt Exemption, Upholds TCPA as a Whole

This is the way Barr v. AAPC ends This is the way Barr v. AAPC ends This is the way Barr v. AAPC ends Not with a bang but with a whimper. After all the legal wrangling and parsing of oral arguments, the Supreme Court handed down a decision today in a case that had… Continue reading SCOTUS Strikes Down Debt Exemption, Upholds TCPA as a Whole

Court Invokes TCPA Debt Exemption Despite Imminent SCOTUS Ruling

While everybody waits to see if the government-backed debt exemption leads to the Supreme Court potentially invalidating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) entirely, a district court somewhat surprisingly decided to enforce that same debt exemption. In Tillman v. Navient Sols., LLC, No. 18-CV-04625, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104533 (N.D. Ill. June 15, 2020), the… Continue reading Court Invokes TCPA Debt Exemption Despite Imminent SCOTUS Ruling

Supreme Court Finally Hears Oral Arguments in TCPA Case

After a delay due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a case—William P. Barr, et al. v. American Association of Political Consultants, et al.—that could very well result in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) being ruled unconstitutional. We offer you a summary of these oral arguments based… Continue reading Supreme Court Finally Hears Oral Arguments in TCPA Case

CFPB Asks FCC to Allow Robocalls from Banks About Financial Relief Programs Related to the Coronavirus Crisis

In an unusual move relative to its customary stance on such issues, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ease restrictions on the use of automated phone calls by banks and financial institutions in order to communicate with consumers about the various financial relief programs and services available … Continue reading CFPB Asks FCC to Allow Robocalls from Banks About Financial Relief Programs Related to the Coronavirus Crisis