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FCC Commissioner Joins Chorus of Voices Demanding Clarification of TCPA

3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

April 16, 2015

FCC Commissioner Joins Chorus of Voices Demanding Clarification of TCPA

By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

When the Telephone Consumer Protect Act (TCPA) was passed in 1991, it was not without its share of detractors. While consumers tired of unsolicited dinnertime telephone calls got a little relief from the law, in the 24 years since it was passed, it has been amended several times to reflect changing technology (automated outbound calls, or “robocalls,” plus the proliferation of mobile devices) and to tighten rules.


Many companies and telecommunication organizations believe it’s time to revisit the TCPA in an effort to clarify some of its regulations. These groups are being joined by at least one Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) commissioner. On April 1, 2015, in his remarks before the Association of National Advertisers, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly urged the agency to address a backlog of petitions requesting clarification of its TCPA regulations and urged the FCC to take action, according to Wilson Barmeyer, Irene Firippis and Lewis Weiner writing for the website JD Supra Business Advisor.

“Commissioner O’Rielly noted that the pending petitions request the FCC’s clarification on key issues such as the definition of autodialer and liability for calls and texts sent to reassigned cell phone numbers,” wrote the authors. “According to Commissioner O’Rielly, the lack of clarity and increased court filings have ‘broadened the scope of the TCPA,’ which in turn has increased TCPA litigation risks for companies. As a result of the uncertainty, Commissioner O’Rielly noted that businesses avoid contacting their existing customers or clients, even if the purpose of the call could help the customer.”

Some companies, afraid that they may be violating TCPA regulations unknowingly, are skipping reaching out to their customers at all for fear of racking up fees. At the same time, companies that have built proactive outbound outreach into their marketing programs are experiencing success … as long as they don’t step over the line set by the TCPA.

In acknowledging the concerns of consumers, Commissioner O’Rielly said that the goal was not to weaken the TCPA, and that clarifications would address “timely and relevant communications.” Providing a nod to the real problem of poorly targeted, repetitive and illegal robocalling, the commissioner said the differences between illegal players and legitimate companies need to be defined.

“[W]e can’t paint all legitimate companies with the brush that every call from a private company is a form of harassment,” said O’Rielly in his address. “It is time for the FCC to act to provide clear rules of the road that will benefit everyone, and that means acting on TCPA petitions before us.”



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