DNC REGULATORY INFORMATION | |
A
Monthly Review of Issues Affecting Commercial Telemarketing by Copilevitz
& Canter, LLC, Attorneys at Law
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December, 2004 FCC A banking trade group has petitioned the FCC to preempt Indiana's telemarketing rules with regard to application to interstate telephone calls. A similar request to preempt Florida's do-not-call list was withdrawn recently, but this request should give the agency an opportunity to address the application of state do-not-call lists to interstate calls. Several states have filed comments with the FCC opposing preemption of their state law as applied to interstate telephone calls. North Dakota, for example, has argued that its laws' application is protected by the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity and that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act contains no expression of Congress's intent to preempt state law. This is despite the fact that the legislative history to the TCPA states that . . . state law is preempted. It will be very interesting to see how the FCC handles this issue - a uniform scheme is obviously best for consumers and businesses, but many states have an investment in enforcement of their state laws, even though these state regulators are still entitled to enforce federal laws. Nearly 8,000,000 mobile phone users have switched carriers since number portability went into effect one year ago. Nearly 750,000 moved a land line number to a cell phone, as well. These numbers could cause your business problems with the TCPA's regulations on calling cell phone numbers if you do not access the ported numbers database. FTC The FTC has charged a group of defendants operating in the United States, Canada and India with operating an advance fee credit card scheme. The complaint alleges that the defendants charged an advance fee while guaranteeing consumers a nonsecured credit card with a low interest rate and high credit limit. The defendants then allegedly debited consumers' accounts and failed to provide the promised credit card. The FTC is increasingly active with regard to cross-border telemarketing and in no way does an international call avoid jurisdiction for fraud or other types of legal violations. The Federal Trade Commission has charged a company that claimed to be a debt negotiation organization with fraud. The entity allegedly failed to contact creditors and charged monthly administrative fees without providing services to enrolled consumers. The FTC has announced that it intends to allow telemarketers to use prerecorded messages to call consumers with whom they have an established business relationship and not consider these calls to be abandoned. The Commission has announced that it will not attempt to prosecute entities which deliver recorded messages to established customers during pendency of this amendment. The Commission has stated that it will require a prompt opt out message in each script and has asked for comments on the proposal which must be received by January 20, 2005. The FTC has charged a New Jersey based telecommunications company with defrauding consumers regarding sale of telecommunications services. GAMBLING
INDUSTRY CALIFORNIA IDAHO MARYLAND MISSOURI OHIO
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The authors make every attempt to provide current, accurate information, but Telemarketing ConnectionS® is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel, and readers should not use it in lieu of obtaining knowledgeable legal, or other professional, counsel expert in the field of commercial telemarketing law. References in Telemarketing ConnectionS® do not constitute endorsement by Copilevitz & Canter, L.L.C. or Telemarketing ConnectionS®. December 1, 2004, Copilevitz & Canter, L.L.C. | |
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