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.
Tag: FCC Rulemaking
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 Adopts Previously Proposed SHAKEN/STIR Rules
Two weeks ago, we reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had proposed new rules relating to the implementation of SHAKEN/STIR call authentication protocols as a part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to put the TRACED Act into practice. At the time, the FCC announced that it would vote on whether or not to officially… Continue reading FCC Adopts Previously Proposed SHAKEN/STIR Rules
New Proposed FCC Order Continues Implementation of STIR/SHAKEN
Last week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai released a proposed Second Report and Order relating to the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN call authentication protocols as mandated by last year’s TRACED Act. According to the fact sheet that the FCC released, the order would do the following, if adopted: Require voice service providers to either… Continue reading New Proposed FCC Order Continues Implementation of STIR/SHAKEN
Court Rules Against Texting Platform in Mayoral Campaign TCPA Class Action
A recent ruling in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action illustrates how the TCPA risks incurred by political campaigns can be spread to the platforms that those campaigns use to send their messages. The case—Klueh v. Vallas, Case No. 19-cv-00249, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152979 (N.D. Ill. August 24, 2020)—centers on text messages… Continue reading Court Rules Against Texting Platform in Mayoral Campaign TCPA Class Action
District Court Rules That Texts Responding to Customer Inquiries Do Not Violate TCPA
When the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was passed into law in 1991, one of its primary purposes was regulating the then-current practice of sending junk faxes. In the intervening 29 years, telecommunications technologies have dramatically changed (several times over) but the law that is the centerpiece of federal telemarketing regulations has remained largely the… Continue reading District Court Rules That Texts Responding to Customer Inquiries Do Not Violate TCPA
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
Georgia Congressional Candidate Faces TCPA Lawsuit Over Campaign Texts
A Georgia state legislator faces a class action for alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations committed in service of her campaign for a congressional seat. The suit demonstrates that political campaigns are a target for TCPA litigation, even ones that have a lower profile than presidential campaigns. The lawsuit—Bowman v. Unterman—centers on two text… Continue reading Georgia Congressional Candidate Faces TCPA Lawsuit Over Campaign Texts
FCC Approves Safe Harbors for Phone Companies Who Block Calls
As part of its ongoing efforts to implement the TRACED Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved new safe harbors for phone companies that implement call blocking technologies. These safe harbors come in response to concerns from phone service providers that the technology used to block unwanted robocalls could also inadvertently block legitimate calls,… Continue reading FCC Approves Safe Harbors for Phone Companies Who Block Calls
FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling That Click-to-Text Is Not an ATDS
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Declaratory Ruling holding that click-to-text platforms will not be considered to be Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems (ATDS) if the phone number is manually added each time. This ruling is in response to a May 2018 petition from from P2P Alliance. It affirms that a peer-to-peer texting platform that… Continue reading FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling That Click-to-Text Is Not an ATDS