The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has recently issued a final rule under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which formally eliminates a prior rule which had required that a customer’s “prior written consent” to receive telemarketing “robocalls” be limited to receiving those calls from one specific seller. 47 CFR §…
In response to the rise of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in telecommunications, on July 17, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice), CG Docket No. 23-362, outlining certain proposed restrictions on AI-generated calls and text messages. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act…
In late January, the West Virginia Legislature introduced two bills aiming to regulate and expand the telemarketing laws in West Virginia. The first bill, House Bill 4886, would amend the Code of West Virginia by adding a new section that establishes a $1000 civil administrative penalty for each instance that…
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Declaratory Ruling stating that existing federal regulations related to using “an artificial or prerecorded voice” to deliver a telephone message, also encompass voices generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The ruling does not expand prohibitions or definitions set forth in the applicable…
On February 23, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) seeking public comment on proposed rules targeting unlawful text messages. If the proposed rules are adopted, they will comprise the FCC’s “first action to protect consumers from unwanted and illegal texts.” If adopted,…
On November 2, 2022, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that a group of companies offering lead generation services violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”), 16 C.F.R. Part 310, and Pennsylvania consumer protection law, 73 P.S. §§ 201-3 and 201-4, by engaging in…
In the past few weeks, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) has issued significant decisions concerning the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and its application to unwanted text messages sent to cell phones used for both personal and business use, and the constitutionality of…
On June 14, 2022, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Third Circuit) issued a significant decision regarding the TCPA’s restrictions in Section 227(b)(1)(A)(iii) on using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) definition to make calls or texts to cellphones without prior express consent. In Panzarella v. Navient Solutions, Inc, No….
On January 7, 2022, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued a decision concerning whether two insurance companies provided sufficient and timely notice to its Insured regarding the exclusion of coverage for Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations. In Addison Automatics, Inc. v. The Netherlands Insurance Co., Case No. 20-P-225, the Appeals…
On January 6, 2021, the Second Circuit issued an order criticizing and declining to adopt a Third Circuit ruling regarding the scope of the term “unsolicited advertisement” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In Katz v. Focus Forward, LLC, No. 21-1224-cv, the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment of the…
On October 15, 2021, Judge William G. Young of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts approved a $14 million settlement in a national class action lawsuit against meal-kit delivery service company, HelloFresh, for purported violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). See Murray v. Grocery…
On December 8, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held oral argument in the case of Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, No. 19-511, concerning the circuit split over what type of equipment qualifies as an “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) within the statutory definition of that term set forth in Telephone…
On September 28, 2020, Judge Martin C. Feldman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an important decision that could impact Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation involving alleged robocalls across the United States. See Creasy v. Charter Commc’ns, Inc., No. 20-cv-1199, 2020 WL…
On September 17, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Eleventh Circuit) issued an important decision regarding incentive payments in class-action settlements in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases. In Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, Case No. 9:17-cv-80393 (11th Cir. 2020) (Johnson), a TCPA case, the Eleventh Circuit held that…
To enhance consumer protections against illegal robocalls, on May 1, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an Order (Order) amending 47 CFR § 1.80 (Section 1.80) of its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules. The Order: (i) removes the TCPA’s initial warning requirement prior to issuing penalties for illegal…
The Eleventh Circuit joined the growing majority of courts in issuing an opinion that significantly narrows the scope of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and delivers a blow to the plaintiffs’ bar and proponents for an expansive reading of the statue. In addressing a pair of consolidated appeals, Glasser…
On December 2, 2019, the United States government submitted a brief to the Supreme Court urging it to deny review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling holding a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) unconstitutional under the First Amendment. In the case in question, Gallion v….
On April 28, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied certification of a putative Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class. Revitch v. Citibank, NA., No. 14-06907 WHA (N.D. Cal. Apr. 28, 2019). The court reasoned that the case would involve “individualized inquires [of prior express…
On March 22, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in Henderson v. United Student Aid Funds, Inc., 2017 WL 766548 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 28, 2017), and remanded the matter back to the Southern District of California to determine if a student loan lender could be vicariously liable for…
On March 12, 2019, the Southern District of Florida dismissed a putative Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case for a second time because of repeated pleading defects. In Settle v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., Judge Ursula Ungaro granted State Farm’s dismissal request because plaintiff’s efforts to fix defects…