On Compliance: The implications of rejected ‘autodialer’ interpretation
A court has thrown out the FCC’s broad definition in TCPA. So what?
In July 2015, the Federal Communications Commission issued a declaratory ruling and order significantly expanding the reach of the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act and its implementing regulations.
The FCC’s order was contrary, in many respects, to the prevailing understanding of the TCPA and its prohibitions. Fortunately, in a recent ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit restored sanity to TCPA Land, at least for now, and vacated parts of the FCC’s order.
TCPA, among other things, provides a caller may not initiate any call or text message (except an emergency call) to a cell phone using an autodialer or prerecorded message without the prior express consent of the called party. TCPA further prohibits the making of any telemarketing or advertising call to a wireless telephone using an autodialer or prerecorded message without prior express written consent of the called party. Civil liability for violation of TCPA is $500 per call ($1,500 per call if the violation is deemed willful).
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