On June 6, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved a declaratory ruling affirming that voice service providers may, as the default setting for phones, block robocalls. This aggressive position means that service providers are strongly encouraged to use reasonable call analytics to block calls before those calls even reach a consumer’s phone.
While the FCC
On May 28, the Third Circuit in Robert W. Mauthe, M.D., P.C. v. Optum Inc. et al. issued a precedential ruling that an unsolicited information request sent by fax is not a prohibited advertisement under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, even when it has a commercial purpose. In so ruling, the three-judge panel affirmed a
On May 16, Commissioner Michael O’Rielly of the Federal Communications Commission issued incendiary remarks aimed at mobilizing all industries impacted by the “perpetual legal limbo” that is the current state of Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretation and litigation.
Speaking at the ACA International Conference, O’Rielly called for businesses to increase pressure on the agency to
A recent decision in Cunningham v. Montes, 16-cv-761-jdp, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74721 (W.D. Wisc. May 3, 2019) has companies and their business owners that provide telephone dialing services on the edge of their seats. Why? Well, in this case the business owner was personally sued for Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations made by
On May 13, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the FCC will host a summit on July 11 “to examine industry’s progress” toward meeting the FCC’s deadline to implement “more reliable caller ID information to combat malicious spoofed robocalls.”
The summit is part of the SHAKEN/STIR initiative which is an “industry-led” program through
Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit struck down a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) that exempted government-backed debts from the statute’s prohibition on automated calls to cellular telephones. According to the Court in American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., et al v. FCC, the debt-collection exemption does not pass strict scrutiny
Background
In Varela v. Lamps Plus, Inc.,
On April 5, the Minnesota Department of Commerce issued guidance to the motor vehicle sales finance industry intended to clarify the types of entities that meet the definition of “sales finance company” under Minnesota law. The guidance solidified the Commerce Department’s stance that companies that purchase motor vehicle retail installment contracts must obtain a motor
On April 3, the Northern District of West Virginia issued an order denying Monitronics International, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on multiple Telephone Consumer Protection Act grounds. In re Monitronics Int’l, Inc., No. 1:13-md-02493-JPB (N.D. W.Va. April 3, 2019). Monitronics sought summary judgment, claiming there was no evidence that it was the seller under
On April 3, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told a House subcommittee that a robocall enforcement unit should be added to the Federal Communications Commission. Highlighting that consumers receive more than 5 billion robocalls a month (up from 2 million calls a month at the beginning of the Trump administration), Rosenworcel stated that “it’s time for the