Plaintiffs at it Again with Silly Opt-Out Language
A court has ordered arbitration in a case brought by a plaintiff who replied “S T O P” with spaces between each letter instead of “STOP” with no spaces, purportedly to opt out of text messages from the defendant. Johnson v. Whaleco, Inc., No. 5:23-cv-00403 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 27, 2023). The court ordered arbitration because […]
Florida court allows claim against Telecom company to continue alleging it knowingly transmitted fraudulent calls to residents
In Office of the Attorney General v. Smartbiz Telecom, LLC, the Florida Attorney General alleged SmartBiz transmitted fraudulent calls despite being notified more than 250 times that its network was being used for illegal calls. Smartbiz, No. 1:22-cv-23945-JEM, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148989 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 23, 2023). The court agreed with the Attorney General […]
Oregon has modified its “do-not-call” law to specifically provide for “accomplice liability”
Oregon has enacted a law (HB 2759) that specifically assesses penalties to entities which know or consciously avoid knowing of businesses that violate state or federal “do-not-call” laws and provide substantial assistance or support to the violator. The Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”) enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has long used the same standard […]
Court rules that there can be no TCPA class action if any user (not just the paid subscriber) of a telephone line can sue
A Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) plaintiff and plaintiff’s attorney, Todd Bank, has lost a motion to certify a class action he brought against Icot Holdings based on two calls he answered on his mother’s landline. Bank v. Icot Holdings, LLC, et al., No. 18-cv-2554 (AMD)(PK), U.S. Dist. LEXIS 676 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 1, 2023). Bank […]
Which Curfew Statute Applies When a Consumer Uses a Mobile Telephone Number?
Summary Regarding mobile phones, the FCC will likely apply the current logic used for landlines. That is to say, if a consumer at her sole discretion moved but kept the same mobile number and old area code, and did not notify the caller of the new address, the caller could rely on the old area […]
How Should a BPO Handle a CCPA Request from a Client’s Customer?
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a hot topic right now for my clients. Many are receiving requests from consumers exercising rights under the CCPA, and are testing the processes they’ve implemented to comply. Many states will follow California’s lead, as well, so you can expect more and varying state privacy rules in the […]
Does Your Business Need to Keep an “Internal” “Do-Not-Call” List?
I received a very strange call yesterday from a female name and caller ID that I did not recognize. The male caller identified himself using a different name and asked to be put on my “internal” “do-not call” list. He explained that he had received two calls from my company today at his work, was […]
Monitoring Disclosure for Text Chat Support
Anytime you call a business, you will hear something like “this call can be monitored for quality control purposes” prior to speaking to a live representative, or even interacting with an automated attendant. The legal reason for this disclosure is that some states require that all parties consent to recording a conversation based on privacy […]
New York Passes Law Effectively Becoming a Two-Party Consent State for Call Recording
On August 21, 2017, New York amended its telemarketing disclosure law to require prompt disclosure of whether the call is being recorded. The law, which goes into effect immediately, applies to business to consumer sales calls. Inbound calls are exempt, as are calls to businesses and calls which do not complete a sale until a […]
Confused about the TCPA, TSR, FCC, and FTC? A Key to Acronyms and Jurisdiction
As of May 19, 2017 the Federal Trade Commission changed its rule governing “soundboard technology” and is no longer exempt from the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The exemption originated from a 2009 letter and has caused no end to confusion as it bound the FTC, only. “Soundboard technology” allows a live operator to use snippets of […]