In the past month, we’ve posted two entries (here and here) regarding court decisions interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the “TCPA”) in the context of mobile marketing campaigns. This morning, our colleagues at the Telecom Law Monitor posted an entry about an FCC decision interpreting the TCPA in the context of a telemarketing case. In that case, a consumer had argued that companies made unsolicited calls to him in violation of the TCPA. The FCC’s decision turned on whether the calls were “telephone solicitations” under the TCPA. The FCC held that unsolicited calls to a consumer were not TCPA violations because the messages were intended for current customers, not as solicitations to obtain new customers. Moreover, the telemarketer’s mistake in directing the calls to a non-customer did not make the calls actionable. This decision will make it harder for a consumer to prove a violation when communications are intended for current customers. A more detailed analysis of the decision is available here.
