This week, the Eleventh Circuit weighed in with a limited definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (“ATDS”), further creating a circuit split on the issue following the D.C. Circuit’s ACA International ruling. The three judge panel ruled that a system must have the capacity to dial numbers randomly or sequentially to qualify as an ATDS, diverging from the Ninth [...]
Within the past several weeks, New York passed SB4777, SB1826, and AB117, creating the following important changes to the state’s rules governing the telemarketing industry: All outbound telemarketing calls must include a disclosure informing the consumer that they may place their telephone number on the caller’s internal do-not-call (DNC) list. Telemarketers must honor requests immediately (no grace period). Effective March [...]
After the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (“Act”) passed almost unanimously in both the House and Senate, President Trump signed the Act on December 30, 2019. The Act will allow the Federal Communications Commission to implement new provisions of the law. President Trump made the final decision regarding the legislation targeting illegal robocalls; his signature makes the Act law and amends the [...]
The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (“Act”), named after Senators Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Sen. John Thune (R-SD). The bill is a result of a yearlong effort by legislators to clamp down on unwanted robocalls. Upon final signature from the President, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) is tasked with implementation of all provisions of the [...]
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has acted boldly by suing a VoIP service provider, Globex Telecom (“Globex”) and its corporate officers, alleging that their services played a role in subjecting consumers to a barrage of illegal calls tied to a fraudulent credit card interest rate reduction scheme that was operated by a related sister company, Educare Centre Services, Inc (“Educare”). [...]
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) is seeking comments on whether companies are permitted to send follow-up text messages clarifying the terms of an opt-out request. The FCC’s notice comes in light of Capital One Services’ Petition for a Declaratory Ruling filed earlier this month. The notice specifically seeks comments on whether “if the sender of a lawful informational text message [...]
House and Senate leaders announced late last week that a compromise robocall bill, called the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, will be released very soon. For some time now, Congress has been working toward an anti-robocall bill. Last May, the House passed its version called Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (“SBRC”), and the Senate passed its own version called the TRACED Act. Both [...]
The Governor of Pennsylvania has signed House Bill 318 amending the state’s Telemarketing Registration Act. Please note, the Act is now more restrictive in several of its requirements than the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Federal Do Not Call Registry (DNC). The following changes will take effect December 3, 2019: Businesses may add their telephone numbers to the [...]
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 [...]
