The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington just granted summary judgment for the defendant in a case that is great news for the dialer vendor industry. The court held that CallFire, a dialer vendor that simply transmits messages on behalf of their clients, was a common carrier, and therefore exempt from the TCPA.

According to the court's summary judgment, whether or not a dialer vendor is a common carrier is a relatively simple, two-part inquiry that asks (1) does the entity hold itself out indifferently to all potential users or, if serving a legally-defined class, hold itself out indiscriminately to serve all within that class; and (2) does the entity allow customers to transmit messages of their own design and choosing?  

Furthermore, the court pointed out that common carriers are not liable under the TCPA absent a high degree of involvement or actual notice of an illegal use and failure to take steps to prevent such transmissions.

Dialer vendors nationwide should review this case to see if they, like CallFire, would meet the common carrier exemption. Note, of course, that the client who was responsible for initiating the calls is still on the hook in this case.