Earlier this year, the Indiana legislature amended the state’s Telephone Solicitor Act, making it mandatory that all telephone solicitors register with the state without exception. The Indiana Attorney General recently issued an opinion stating that the exemptions to Indiana’s Telephone Solicitation of Consumers law, an entirely different statute that contains the state’s Do Not Call law, now apply to the [...]
The Northern District Court of California recently entered a $267 million judgment against a debt collector for TCPA violations. The Court found that Rash Curtis & Associates violated the TCPA by making 534,000 autodialed or prerecorded calls to debtors’ cell phones without valid consent. The final judgment awarded each class member $500 per call for an aggregate award of $267 [...]
Last week, in Salcedo v. Hanna, the Eleventh Circuit held that a plaintiff lacked standing to pursue TCPA allegations against a law firm that sent him a single text message advertisement. Like many TCPA plaintiffs, Salcedo argued that he suffered a concrete injury because the text message was an invasion of privacy, interfered with his right to enjoy the full [...]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), under the leadership of Director Andrew Smith, continues to focus its consumer protection enforcement efforts on the lead generation industry. As we reported last Spring, the FTC is cracking down on companies that generate or purchase consumer data gathered without the proper consent and that “big, responsible companies” are no safer from FTC scrutiny than [...]
Attorneys General from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have come together with twelve major telecommunications service providers including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint to form a partnership for reducing robocalls that inundate U.S. consumers. The alliance comes just weeks after the Federal Trade Commission (FCC) voted to give phone companies the right to block unwanted calls without [...]
Recently, the Eleventh Circuit upheld the dismissal of a proposed class action by two hotel operators on the grounds that senders of solicited fax advertisements are not required to provide the recipient with an opt-out notice. Two hotel operators, which operate Super 8 Motels and Wingate Hotels, argued that Safemark Systems violated the TCPA by sending unsolicited fax advertisements that [...]
Congressional Act H.R. 3375, known commonly as the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, has sailed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee with a unanimous vote of approval. While the Act’s previously analyzed requirements remain intact, the following noteworthy amendments were included with the Committee approval: In relation to the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) reassigned numbers database, the Act clarifies that [...]
We previously reported that in preparation for a Potential Tropical Cyclone Two, businesses were temporarily banned from making non-exempt telephone solicitations into Louisiana. As of 2:00 PM CT today, Louisiana lifted the ban and telemarketing activities may resume. For more information or to check on the status of the calling prohibition, please visit the Louisiana PSC’s State of Emergency website.
Louisiana has declared a state of emergency in preparation for Potential Tropical Cyclone Two. Businesses may not make non-exempt telephone solicitations into the state until further notice. Relevant exemptions are listed in La. R.S. 45:844.31. For more information or to check on the status of the calling prohibition, please visit the Louisiana PSC’s State of Emergency website.
Mississippi recently adopted emergency rules modifying its Telephone Solicitation Act. The most notable change is that businesses may register their numbers on the state’s “No Call List.” Entities making business-to-business telemarketing calls must suppress calls to numbers on the state’s No Call List unless an exemption applies. The emergency rules also place a duty on telephone service providers to ensure [...]
