December 30, 2020 marks the one year anniversary of President Donald Trump signing the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act into law. The law, whose name is an acronym for Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence, is the first major federal telemarketing legislation in more than a decade.
This is the first entry in our new series, Your Questions Answered, in which we give detailed answers to TCPA and DNC questions asked by our readers. If you'd like to ask a question for a future entry, there is a form at the bottom of the page.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the State of Ohio have announced that they are fining Globex Telecom, Inc.—a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider—approximately $2 million for violating multiple consumer protection regulations, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and Ohio’s Telephone Solicitation Sales Act.
Any company who is calling or texting is required by law to suppress phone numbers against the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. A SAN (Subscription Account Number) must be purchased and renewed annually in order to download the DNC registry. Many callers find the rules relating to and process for acquiring a SAN to be confusing.
The entire telemarketing industry is awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in AAPC v. Barr, the case that very may well invalidate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in its entirety. However, the possibility that the main federal enforcement mechanism for regulating telemarketing may soon disappear is no reason for marketers to become lax in their compliance efforts.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued letters to three gateway providers demanding that they shut off traffic to overseas robocallers whom the Commissions have identified as engaging in scam calls related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telemarketers must often navigate a minefield of risks. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), various Do Not Call (DNC) laws, and other regulatory statutes present a vast array of potential, costly violations.
According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, a “Safe Harbor” is “a provision granting protection from liability or penalty if certain conditions are met. A safe harbor provision may be included in statutes or regulations to give peace of mind to good-faith actors who might otherwise violate the law on technicalities beyond their reasonable control.”