Landmark Win for TCPA Defendants: Supreme Court Narrowly Interprets an “ATDS”

It’s not an April Fools’ Day joke. After years of uncertainty as to what an “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) actually means under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Supreme Court has put that question to rest. On April 1, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid that “[t]o qualify as […]

Are “ringless voicemail” calls exempt from the TCPA?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits any person from making any call using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or prerecorded message to any cell phone number or other service for which the called party is charged without the prior express consent of the called party.  47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii).  For this reason, companies […]

Are offers of employment “advertisements” or “telemarketing” calls under the TCPA?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits autodialed or prerecorded “advertisement” or “telemarketing” calls unless made with the prior express written consent of the recipient.  But are genuine offers of employment subject to this restriction? The Federal Communication Commission’s regulations define “advertisement” as “any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods, or […]

Be Cautious of the Honeypot or You Might Get Stung

Before a phone number can be assigned and given to a consumer, telephone carriers test the number to see if it receives a large amount of phone calls. Because consumers do not want a new phone number that receives numerous unsolicited calls, the numbers receiving large amounts of calls are taken off the market and […]

Supreme Court May Halt Future TCPA Class Actions

Plaintiffs’ attorneys love to sue under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and for good reason—the TCPA permits class action lawsuits for $500 or more per unsolicited telephone call even if plaintiffs have suffered no actual harm from those calls. This windfall, however, may conflict with the United States Constitution.  Under Article III of the […]

FCC Exempts Some Fraud Protection Calls Made by Financial Institutions from TCPA Restrictions

Financial institutions will now be able to contact their customers by telephone when accounts may have been compromised or notify account holders of potential fraud without fear of liability and potentially damaging class action lawsuits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). In its Declaratory Ruling and Order[1] of July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications […]

Can Telemarketers Transmit Modified Names on Caller ID Displays?

Summary Sellers and telemarketers cannot intentionally misrepresent a telephone number or name provided as the caller ID display, but they can, likely, use recognized trade or product names, acronyms, or abbreviations, rather than full legal names, which may exceed the display character limit or be even more confusing.  Article The Truth in Caller ID Act […]