A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against Superior Servicing and its operator Dennise Merdjanian, following FTC allegations that the company claimed to be affiliated with the Department of Education, collected illegal advance fees and made other deceptive claims. Judge Gloria M. Navarro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada also froze the company’s assets and agreed to the appointment of a receiver ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case that could clarify whether the Hobbs Act, which limits judicial review of FCC final orders to appeals courts, means that district courts must accept the FCC’s interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The case, McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates Inc. v ..read more

New Federal Communications Commission TCPA rules will mean big changes for businesses, particularly comparison shopping websites, lead generators, and other companies that regularly contact consumers via phone or text message.  This episode repurposes a recent webinar.  After reviewing TCPA consent requirements for calls and texts and exceptions, we look at the impact of the U.S ..read more

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a final rule amending its regulations implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to add new provisions addressing how consumers may revoke consent to receive autodialed or prerecorded voice calls or texts and the obligations of callers and texters to honor revocation of consent requests ..read more

On February 8, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized its plan to ban robocalls that feature voices generated by artificial intelligence, aiming to stem the tide of AI-generated scams and misinformation campaigns.  The FCC’s declaratory ruling formalized its position that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)—specifically, the provision prohibiting the initiation of calls “using an artificial prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party”—applies to the use of AI-generated voices.  ..read more

New FCC rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will mean big changes for businesses, particularly comparison shopping websites, lead generators, and other companies that regularly contact consumers via phone or text message.  On February 20, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET, Ballard Spahr will hold a webinar in which members of the firm’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act Industry Group will discuss: The so-called “lead generator loophole” and the FCC’s efforts to close it ..read more

Yesterday, by a vote of 4-1, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) adopted a new rule amending its regulations implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to close what it refers to as the “lead generator loophole.”  The new rule represents a major change for the online lead generation industry, including comparison shopping websites, by requiring lead generators to obtain consumer consent to receive robocalls and robotexts from one seller at a time, rather than having a single consent apply to multiple sellers at once.   ..read more

On November 16th, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced new independent initiatives regarding the use and implications of AI technologies on consumers in the context of telephone and voice communications. These initiatives align with the recent Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence and show federal regulators’ expanding focus on existing and anticipated AI issues ..read more

A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that text messages are not “prerecorded voice messages” for purposes of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) prohibition on using “an artificial or prerecorded voice” to make non-emergency calls to cell phone numbers without the called party’s consent ..read more

A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that a plaintiff who received only one ringless voicemail (RVM) had alleged a concrete injury sufficient to provide Article III standing to assert a claim under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In Dickson v.  Direct Energy LP, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant delivered multiple RVMs to his cell phone voicemail box in which the defendant advertised its services.  ..read more