News

Bloomingdale’s inadvertently violated TCPA laws by sending out promotional text messages to people who had opted into their "Loyalist Program", but hadn’t specifically agreed to receive promotional or marketing text messages from the retailer.

Calls to these States on restricted (Do Not Call) dates could result in a potential State violation: 

August 6: Civic Day 

• Canada (AB, BC, SK, ON, NB, NU)

August 13: Victory Day 

Calls to these States on restricted dates could result in a potential State violation:

July 4th: Independence Day 

• Alabama
• Louisiana 
• Mississippi 
• Rhode Island 
• Utah 

July 24th: Pioneer Day

Calls to these states on restricted dates could result in a State violation:

• June 3rd: Confederate Memorial Day
• June 4th: Jefferson Davis' Birthday
• June 21st: National Aboriginal Day
• June 24th: Quebec's National Day
• June 25th: Discovery Day

FCC releases public notice seeking comments on reinterpreting the TCPA. March’s court ruling in ACA International v. FCC invalidated their interpretations of the TCPA. Now they are questioning the extent of their authority.

The largest robocall fine in history was issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FCC). The $120 million fine against Adrian Abramovich was for making nearly 100 million robocalls over a three month period that spoofed CallerID.

A coalition of trade organizations filed a petition for a declaratory ruling with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The petition urges the FCC to clarify and narrow the scope of the TCPA’s definition of an “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS).

The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on reassigned telephone numbers. The commission is seeking industry input on the creation of a reassigned numbers database to help businesses and consumers avoid unwanted calls and text messages.

On April 18th six U.S. Senators introduced the ROBOCOP Act which requires phone companies to offer their customers free robocall blocking technology. The bill is intended to protect consumers from overseas scammers. Unfortunately, it could also become a major headache for debt collectors.