3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

There’s calling for business and then “other types” of calling, and it’s that second point that’s the focus of a court case unraveling in Utah.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, three Utah companies are defending themselves before a jury over charges that the company made as many at 84 million illegal telemarketing calls to numbers that were already on the federal "Do Not Call” registry. The case was originally being heard in Florida starting back in 2011, but has subsequently been moved to Utah.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC (News - Alert)) alleges that three companies -- the Corporation for Character, Feature Films for Family and Family Films of Utah -- engaged in deceptive telemarketing to sell DVDs or tickets for family-friendly movies, or when they provided telemarketing services for others, including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Firefighters Charitable Foundation. “The companies allegedly made a number of false statements, including about how much money they kept from the calls on behalf of nonprofit groups,” the Tribune says.

U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby has already ruled that the companies had violated telemarketing laws in placing calls to numbers on the Do Not Call list on behalf of a group called Kids First or the Coalition for Quality in Children's Media, and to sell tickets for the movie "Velveteen Rabbit," which was produced by defendant Forrest Sandusky Baker III.

At the trial’s start this past Monday, Shelby tossed out several FTC claims, including that the companies made certain misleading statements when calling to solicit donations for the Firefighters Foundation and the FOP.

If the jury finds in favor of the government, the companies and Baker could face fines and other sanctions. The trial is expected to conclude next week.