FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler recently announced that he plans on naming Alison Kutler as Acting Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (“CGB”), effective June 1. The CGB is responsible for overseeing consumer protection statutes (such as the TCPA and CAN-SPAM Act) for which the FCC has authority. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Kutler was most recently Senior Vice President at VISA Inc.
Last week the FCC also issued Citations and Orders to three companies for making non-telemarketing robocalls to cell phones without prior express, in violation of the TCPA. The companies receiving Citations include: Call-Em-All, LLC, M.J. Ross Group, Inc., d/b/a PoliticalRobocalls.com, and Ifonoclast, Inc., d/b/a Phonevite. While most of the FCC’s recent TCPA related enforcement actions have been against telemarketers, these recent cases demonstrate that companies making non-marketing robocalls to cell phones still have to follow the rules or be prepared to face the consequences.