The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was signed into law in 1991. For perspective, that’s one year before the invention of SMS text messaging. Yet, this thirty-year-old piece of legislation remains the centerpiece of federal telemarketing regulation deep into the smartphone era.
At first glance, it may seem like too rudimentary a question to even bother considering: what is a robocall? But try to answer it with any degree of specificity or legal precision and the ambiguity becomes clear. “Robocall” is a colloquial term of significant political and rhetorical consequence.
This is part of our ongoing series, Your Questions Answered. If you'd like to ask a question for a future entry, please fill out the form at the bottom.
This is part of our ongoing series, Your Questions Answered. If you'd like to ask a question for a future entry, please fill out the form at the bottom.
This is part of our ongoing series, Your Questions Answered. If you'd like to ask a question for a future entry, please fill out the form at the bottom.
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.
TCPA litigators and serial plaintiffs want to infiltrate your marketing campaigns. Their modus operandi involves taking advantage of unsuspecting marketers and well-intentioned companies who may not know that they are required to abide by the TCPA.
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.
As we reach the middle of the summer, we are approaching the homestretch of an election year. This means, among other things, that we are near a high water mark for political messaging by means of telephone solicitation. Some callers may be under the mistaken impression that political calls are exempt from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This is not true.