What We Learned from 5 Major TCPA Lawsuits in 2016
Last year saw nearly a 32% increase in number of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case filings over the previous year.
News
FCC Declares War on Robocallers with New Rules
In the past, phone companies have used automated blocking tools, but some complained that FCC rules against blocking calls prohibited them from aggressively targeting illegal telemarketers for fear of accidentally blocking legitimate callers.
The Making of a TCPA Class Action Lawsuit
Del Valle v. Global Exchange Vacation Club. In this article, we examine a recent TCPA lawsuit to demonstrate the legal process for evaluating whether a case should move forward with class action status and touch on some simple things you can do to prevent cases like this before you begin your campaigns.
Marketers Claim Victory with Dismissal of TCPA Case in California
In Epps v. Earth Fare Inc., plaintiff Jalen Epps sued organic grocer Earth Fare for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Ms. Epps claimed that Earth Fare continued to send her marketing texts, despite her many attempts to opt out.
DNC Access Fees Increase For Canadian Telemarketers
Effective April 1, 2017, it will cost telemarketers $48,047 annually to access all area codes of the Canadian Do No Call List (DNCL) for scrubbing, an increase of $1,034. The annual access fee to individual area codes will be $2,875, an increase of $62.
Court holds dialer vendor to be a common carrier, and therefore exempt from the TCPA
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.
FTC Approves Proposed Settlement Against Accused Robocaller
Earlier this week, the FTC and the attorneys general of 10 states finalized a settlement order against Fred Accuardi and several of his companies accused of making billions of illegal robocalls (or up to 15 million calls per day).
Facebook's Motion to Dismiss a TCPA Lawsuit is Denied
The Northern District of California denied Facebook’s motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing the company of violating the TCPA. The plaintiff, Florida resident Colin R. Brickman, accuses Facebook of sending thousands of “happy birthday” texts without consent.
FCC Solicits Comments on Petition to Redefine “Expressed Consent”
Cunningham and Moskowitz ask the FCC to redefine the "express consent" standard for non-marketing automated calls and texts to wireless phones. This would apply to automated collections calls, informational calls and the like.