On November 8th, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a two hour hearing entitled “The Impact of Lawsuit Abuse on American Small Businesses and Job Creators”.

The federal court denied Dish Network’s motion to reduce or set aside the trebled damages awarded in Krakauer v. Dish Network. Dish ordered to pay treble damages of $61.5 million to class members in a TCPA lawsuit.

The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, resigned on Wednesday. As one of the last remaining Obama-era banking regulators, he will step down at the end of November.

The FCC announced their approval of new rules that allow phone companies to proactively block calls that are believed to be illegal robocalls.

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

• December 25th: Christmas Day
• December 26th: Day After Christmas
• December 26th: Boxing Day

Pivotal Payments, Inc., a Texas-based payment processor, will pay $9 million to resolve a class action brought by Abante Rooter and Plumbing Inc. The settlement agreement ends the lawsuit accusing Pivotal Payments of violated the TCPA.

A lead generation business in the solar industry settled with the FTC the charge that it violated the TSR. The companies, operated by brothers Francisco and Julio Salvat, placed millions of illegal calls to consumers listed on the Do Not Call Registry.

A new TCPA petition has been filed with the FCC and the agency is now seeking public comments. Outcome Health is seeking clarification on the rule that an unknowable text messaging technical error is protected from liability under the 2012 Soundbite Declaratory Ruling.

For small business owners who use telemarketing, each call puts your business at risk of paying millions in fines under the TCPA. Are you familiar with the regulations and their court interpretations?