By: Jeffrey Lapin The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it pulled the plug on five companies allegedly responsible for millions of illegal robocalls calls from “Rachel” and others from “Cardholder Services.” The FTC estimates that five companies collected approximately $30 million from “Rachel” robocalls by “allegedly deceived consumers” by making phony claims that they
By: Jeffrey Lapin On October 18, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will be launching a challenge, the FTC Robocall Challenge, with a $50,000 cash prize for the best technical solution. The Challenge is free and open to the public. The FTC is offering the Challenge as part of its ongoing campaign to
By: Jeffrey Lapin FCC’S NEW RULES On February 15, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced new consumer protections against telemarketing robocalls. A “robocall”, also called an “autodialed call”, is a call which has a pre-recorded message made using an automatic telephone dialing system. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) already places limits on unsolicited
By: Jeffrey Lapin In a victory for consumers the co-sponsors of H.R. 3035 (The Mobile Information Caller Act of 2011) withdrew the bill from further consideration. The bill would have made significant changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the most significant of which would have permitted businesses, including debt collectors, to use automatic
New opposition has arisen against H.R. 3035, the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011. Attorney Generals in 48 states signed a letter urging Congress to reject the bill. The proposed Act, among other things, would amend the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by changing the definition of “prior express consent” and permit debt collectors to
H.R. 3035 – The Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011 In a previous post, Proposed Act Would Permit Debt Collectors to Use Auto-Dialers to Call Cellular Telephones, H.R. 3035, the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011, was discussed and how, if passed, would likely harm consumers. The Act, among other things, would amend the Telephone
Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE) and Edolphus Towns (D-NY), recently introduced the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011 (H.R. 3035, 112nd Cong., 1st Sess. (2011)), in the House of Representatives that contains sweeping changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the most significant of which would permit debt collectors to use automatic telephone dialing systems