News

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Two Courts Reject Excel Sheet ATDS Argument

On consecutive days last week, two different district courts in two different circuits handed down rulings in two different Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases that rejected a common argument that would have essentially rendered any computer-based dialer as an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS). One case—Decapua v. Metro. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., C.A. No.

A package of Beyond Beef brand plant-based meat substitute

PETA Faces TCPA Class Action for Text Messages Advertising Fake Meat

A recent complaint filed in the Southern District of California accuses the animal rights, nonprofit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by sending automated text messages promoting the meat substitute Beyond Meat. Beyond Meat is also named as a defendant in the class action.

An illustration of human lungs in front of a lab technician holding a vial that is labeled "COVID-19"

The TCPA During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The current, novel coronavirus pandemic that is spreading COVID-19 is causing massive upheaval worldwide. For telemarketers, this is creating uncertainty as to how regulations such as the TCPA and state laws dictate what sorts of calls are allowed during such a period of emergency.
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Court Dismisses Vicarious Liability Claim in TCPA Class Action

Gig economy courier colossus Postmates received a favorable ruling from a district court within the Ninth Circuit in a recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action. Rogers v. Postmates Inc., Case No. 19-cv-05619-TSH, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36626 (N.D. Cal. March 3, 2020) revolved around vicarious liability claims that the court did not find to be compelling.

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Florida Court Rules that Twilio’s Texting Platform is Not an ATDS

In a potentially significant decision, a Florida district court ruled that a prominent text message platform is not an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Twilio is not the defendant in the class action—Northrup v. Innovative Health Ins. Partners, LLC, Case No: 8:17-cv-1890-T-36JSS, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31851 (M.D. Fl. Feb.

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Smartphone App Includes Automatic Robocall Lawsuit Feature

As robocalls have become an increasingly prominent issue, software developers have produced a bevy of anti-robocall apps. Most of these are variations on a call-blocking theme but one new app takes things much further. DoNotPay’s “robot lawyer” app has a new feature, called Robo Revenge, that essentially baits robocallers into Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuits.