TCPA Monitor

Thanks to all who joined M&S Partner Michele Shuster and Senior Attorney Josh Stevens last Thursday for our webinar: STIR/SHAKEN – What it Means for You. Below are additional questions and answers that we did not have time for in the presentation. Were you unable to attend? View this 30-minute webinar in its entirety here.  STIR/SHAKEN call authentication stands to [...]

One of the most hotly contested issues in TCPA litigation is whether a communication qualifies as an advertisement. For faxes, the determination impacts whether the TCPA applies at all. For calls made and texts sent to cell phones using an autodialer, the determination dictates the necessary level of consent. Case law on the issue is inconsistent at best. Recent decisions [...]

The Eleventh Circuit has joined the Second Circuit in finding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) does not authorize unilateral revocation of consent to receive automated calls when such consent is given in a bargained-for contractual provision. In a favorable opinion for Dish Network, the court held that Dish had permission to continue placing robocalls to a subscriber, even [...]

In an Order issued Friday, the Federal Communications Commission implemented enhanced liability provisions for Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) violations Congress passed as part of the TRACED Act. Specifically, under the new provisions: The Commission will not be required to issue an administrative citation prior to seeking penalties against non-compliant callers. Previously, the Commission had to first issue an administrative [...]

After recent opinions from the Seventh Circuit (Gadelhak) and Eleventh Circuit (Glasser), a narrow interpretation of automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) seemed to be gaining traction. Both held that a system is not an ATDS unless it can: (a) store telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator; or (b) produce telephone numbers using a random or sequential number [...]

The state legislatures began their 2020 sessions with a flurry of activity.  The following is a recap of the teleservices bills that have been enacted from January 1 – March 31, 2020: Indiana When Indiana’s telemarketing registration was broadened in 2019, it created a large swath of registration requirements applicable to most businesses making calls from or into the state. [...]

A three-judge panel in the Seventh Circuit largely affirmed an Illinois federal court’s judgment finding Dish Network liable for forcing retailers to make 66 million unlawful telemarking calls to consumers. While the Seventh Circuit affirmed liability, it also found that the court undercalculated appropriate penalties when it required Dish to pay a $280 million penalty to the federal government, North [...]

This is a follow-up to our March 24, 2020 blog clarifying the FCC’s “Emergency Purpose” TCPA exception of COVID-19 messages. On March 25th, the FCC announced that it is creating a new Hospital Robocall Protection Group aimed at ensuring hospitals do not receive distracting robocalls during this time of crisis. At the same time, teleservices industry participants have been setting [...]

In a Declaratory Ruling Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) confirmed that COVID-19 related calls and text messages from public health officials serve an “emergency purpose” and as such are excluded from the prior express consent requirements of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The declaratory ruling cites the immediate need for hospitals, health care providers, state and local officials, [...]