FEDERAL
TRADE COMMISSION
The
FTC has signed 62 million telephone numbers to the national do-not-call
list and logged more than 428,000 complaints from consumers against
more than 130,000 companies. As a whole, less than one percent of
persons whose numbers are on the list have complained about its operations
or calls from telemarketers.
The FTC
has issued its biannual agenda which includes a summary of its actions
under the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Upcoming regulatory action on
the rule includes a new fee schedule for the do-not-call
list to go into effect September 1, 2004.
The FTC
has proposed a rule regarding definitions applicable to its regulations
promulgated pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC relies
on its analysis of the established business relationship exemption
for the Telemarketing Sales Rule and has concluded that a consumer
would reasonably expect to receive information from an affiliate of
an entity from which the consumer requested information.
The FTC
has obtained a final court order shutting down an Arizona based company
which allegedly defrauded consumers by selling a service to safeguard
personal financial information from unscrupulous telemarketers. The
order prohibits false representations in the future and billing consumer
accounts without prior authorization.
U.S.
CONGRESS
A
bill has been introduced in the Senate called the Junk Fax Prevention
Act of 2004. The law would amend the TCPA to allow unsolicited advertisements
to be sent to businesses with whom the sendor has an established business
relationship and the advertisement contains certain disclosures. Recipient
businesses should be allowed to make do-not-fax requests
which would sever the ability of the business to send such advertisements.
The bill would allow the FCC to determine a time limit on established
business relationships. It would also require the Commission to submit
an annual report to Congress regarding enforcement of junk fax provision
laws.
ARIZONA
Arizona
has amended its telemarketing registration law to clarify that entities
required to file a limited registration, only, are subject to the
provisions of the national do-not-call list for intrastate
calls.
ARKANSAS
Arkansas
has filed suit against a satellite television company from Texas alleging
violations of the national do-not-call registry.
CALIFORNIA
A
bill has been proposed in the California Assembly which would prohibit
sellers of mobile telephone services from selling or licensing lists
of subscribers to any third party. The bill would also require explicit
opt in for the telecommunications provider to include
subscribers in directories of telephone numbers.
A bill
requiring disclosure of the location of a customer sales representative
has been amended to require disclosures only upon request. The law
would apply to inbound or outbound telephone customer service centers.
GEORGIA
A
n appellate court has overturned a trial courts ruling that
a class action in Georgia should not have been certified as a class
action. The appellate court ruled that the action should proceed as
a class action.
KANSAS
A
college has won a federal court proceeding ruling that its insurer
was required to pay for its defense in the face of a claim that it
violated the TCPA restrictions on unsolicited faxes. The college had
been sued by a trucking company in eastern Illinois. You may have
read that this part of Illinois is one of the class action capitols
of the country.
LOUISIANA
A
bill has been proposed in the Louisiana House which would change the
state curfew from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., to 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.;
require the caller to state his first and last name within the first
25 seconds of the phone call; and provide a telephone number consumers
can call to be added to the telemarketers do-not-call
list.
MICHIGAN
A
law has been enacted in Michigan which would create a law enforcement
memorial and monument but bans fund raising for that monument through
the use of telemarketing.
NEW
MEXICO
The
New Mexico Human Services Department has proposed a regulation which
would ban telemarketing or face-to-face marketing with potential members
of managed care health insurance organizations. Rules like this are
considered to be content-based restrictions on speech. It is possible
that this regulation is unconstitutional under this analysis.
NEW
YORK
A
New York court has ruled that a TCPA plaintiff alleging violation
of the restriction on recorded voice messages was not properly filed
as a class action. The court ruled that New York law specifically
prohibited it from being a class action. New York provides that a
statute imposing a penalty or minimum measure of recovery is not subject
to class action unless it specifically states that class action relief
is available.
OKLAHOMA
A
suit has been filed in Oklahoma alleging that a satellite company
failed to register as a commercial telephone seller and used an autodialer
to place calls to a 911 service, hospital and a police station. Calls
using predictive dialers are prohibited to all public safety telephone
numbers including police stations, etc.
TEXAS
ATexas
appellate court has held that Texas must opt out of private
TCPA suits. Otherwise, such suits are allowed in state court in Texas.
VIRGINIA
Virginias
amended telemarketing law went into effect July 1, 2004. It contains
a ban on abandonment and requires that telephone solicitors adhere
to the national do-not-call list law.
WISCONSIN
A
Wisconsin judge has struck down portions of Wisconsins do-not-call
list regulations. The opinion upheld the fees provision portion of
the list and struck down portions of the regulations leveling fines
and creating private causes of action under the regulation.