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FCC regulations

Government Contractors Subject to New FCC TCPA Robocall Rules

by David Klein

On December 14, 2020, the Federal Communications Communication (“FCC”) issued an Order on Reconsideration (“Order”) overturning a 2016 decision that allowed federal government contractors to robocall consumers without their prior express consent. The Order updated the FCC’s previous interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Now, the FCC has made clear that certain government contractors are not exempt from TCPA robocall regulations. Federal government contractors are, therefore, required to obtain prior express consent before calling consumers through automated means.

Why did the FCC update its interpretation?

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FCC Asked to Clarify Scope of TCPA Opt-Out Requests

by David Klein

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) is in the process of evaluating whether to issue a declaratory ruling which would provide clarification on if and how companies are permitted to respond to consumer TCPA opt-out requests.  Such guidance offers the promise of providing much needed certainty to businesses trying to more efficiently manage relationships with their customers.   

What is being asked of the FCC with respect to the TCPA Opt-Out issue?

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FCC Clarifies TCPA Fax Exemption

by David Klein

December 27th, 2019

In an important decision concerning the Junk Fax portions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) recently issued a declaratory ruling clarifying the scope of the TCPA fax exemption.  The ruling came in response to a petition filed by Amerifactors Financial Group, LLC (“Amerifactors”) requesting clarification from the FCC as to whether certain fax services can be fairly classified as fax machines within the meaning of the TCPA. 

Like many other companies operating in the fax-based marketing space, Amerifactors utilizes online fax services to transmit its marketing communications.  Such online fax services operate through use of “‘a cloud-based service consisting of a fax server or similar device that is used to send or receive documents, images and/or electronic files in digital format over telecommunications facilities’ that allows users to ‘access faxes the same way that they do email by logging into a server over the Internet or by receiving a pdf attachment [as] an email.’”  

How did the FCC clarify the TCPA fax exemption?

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New FCC Regulations to Curb Foreign Caller ID Spoofing

by David Klein

August 6, 2019

FCC-regulations
New FCC Regulations

On August 1, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted new regulations that will allow the federal government to pursue enforcement actions against foreign businesses that knowingly “spoof” US recipients with the intent to cause harm, defraud, or obtain anything of value. Spoofing is the practice of using misleading caller ID information to manipulate a recipient into answering a call or text message through the use of a telephone number displayed on caller ID is intended to be somewhat recognizable to consumers. In the past, we have blogged about legislation that was introduced to address spoofing. That specific legislation died in committee, but with the passage of the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018(“RAY BAUM’S”), new FCC regulations have been put into place to pursue foreign bad actors.

Why are the new FCC regulations being adopted?

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