June Grab Bag: Compliance News
The TCPA, FCC, and state law news that matters from June.
Robocalls
FCC Partners With States for Robocall Enforcement
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been adopting a new strategy for enforcing robocall regulations that involves signing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with state attorneys general. In recent weeks, the FCC has announced MOUs with multiple states, usually in batches.
FCC Chair Asks Congress for New Robocall Legislation
The four current members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took questions from the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on March 31. As part of those discussions, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel suggested that the FCC would benefit from legislation to give the commission additional robocall enforcement powers.
Webinar Recap: What You Need to Know About America’s Most Dangerous Statute Moving into 2022
Yesterday, Contact Center Compliance conducted our first Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) webinar of the year, hosted by CCC’s Director of Compliance Services, Arvell Craig. As usual, our guest was Eric Troutman, the Czar of TCPAWorld.
Serial Plaintiff Scores Multiple TCPA Penalties Per Call
Andrew Perrong is an infamous Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) plaintiff and his latest court victory illustrates one of the less understood dangers of the TCPA: the fact that each call may violate multiple TCPA provisions and thus be assessed multiple penalties on each call.
Pepsi Sued for Alleged Robocall Violations
On February 18, PepsiCo and one of its distributors were on the receiving end of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action complaint stemming from alleged robocall violations. The plaintiff in Epps v. PepsiCo Inc. and Quail Mountain Coffee & Vending alleges that he received “numerous telemarketing calls” to his cell phone with prerecorded voice messages from Pepsi asking if he would like to restock his supply of Pepsi products.
District Court Rejects Argument That Text Messages Are Prerecorded Voice
A district court in California rejected a plaintiff’s argument in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuit that tried to establish a new avenue for text message claims. The court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss, noting that the plaintiff’s claims that text messages constitute “prerecorded voice” messages flatly contradicts both the common sense and dictionary definitions of “voice.”
FCC Proposes Declaratory Ruling Stating That Ringless Voicemails Are Robocalls
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a new proposed Declaratory Ruling and Order that would affirm that ringless voicemail (RVM) technology is subject to the same Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) consent requirements as
30 Years of the TCPA
Today is the 30 year anniversary of President George H.W. Bush signing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) into law. It is fitting that this anniversary is somewhat overlooked as, for the first two decades of its existence, the TCPA served its intended, modest purpose as a statute allowing individual consumers to bring lawsuits in small claims court.
Just In Time for the Holidays, Court Allows Corporate Officer to Be Personally Sued
In what is becoming something of a December tradition, a court played the role of Bad Santa by allowing a plaintiff to name a corporate officer as personally liable in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case.