Category: TCPA

Yesterday the Ninth Circuit issued a big new decision addressing three of my favorite topics: Spokeo, express consent, and revocation. The decision provides quite a bit to chew on.

In Colin Brickman, v. Facebook, the Court denied Facebook’s motion to dismiss, determining that the Plaintiff had plausibly alleged the use of an ATDS in connection with birthday text alerts that were sent to his phone.

As expected, Trump has tapped Commissioner Ajit Pai to Chair the new-look FCC. This is great news for proponents of TCPA reform but, as with all things Commission related, we may not see any tangible results from his ascension for some time.

Democratic Chairman Wheeler announced yesterday that he will follow longstanding agency tradition and step down as Chairman of the FCC in light of the election of Republican Donald Trump as our next POTUS.

It remains to be seen whether Congress will work with President Trump to effect legislative change on key issues like TCPA reform. But, no matter what, I like our chances of seeing some real revisions to the TCPA under Trump’s presidency.

TCPA filings are up over 40% year to date. Indeed, the TCPA is now officially obeying Moore’s Law and doubling every two years. This year we’re on track to scrape 5,000 filings. If the trend continues we’ll be at 7,400 filings next year and flirting with 10k by the end of 2018.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument on Wednesday. This was a spectacle that did not disappoint. The advocacy was superb, the panel’s questions were telling and the exchanges with counsel were lively and, at times, exceptionally humorous.

Here’s something a lot of folks—even so-called TCPA “experts—tend to overlook. Most people realize that the TCPA contains two separate provisions with respect to the use of regulated technology to place calls to phone numbers; one applies to cell phones and the other to landlines. But most overlook that the two provisions contain radically different triggers for liability.

Tomorrow is the big hearing entitled, “Modernizing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act” in which the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), will discuss, well, modernizing the TCPA.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeal has revealed the panel for the ACA, Intl. proceeding challenging the FCC’s oft-criticized 2015 TCPA Omnibus ruling. The judges assigned are Judges Srinivasan, Pillard, and Edwards.

The four-year long saga of Aranda, et al. v. Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., et al. looks like it will finally be coming to an end.

Within an hour or so of the Supreme Court handing down its landmark ruling in Spokeo v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), I had declared the case to be the end of TCPA class litigation.

The 2016 FCC BBA Order is baffling throughout, but the most mystifying element of the ruling is its sleight of hand with respect to the TCPA’s application to calls made by the Federal government. To be crystal clear—the federal government is not a “person” subject to the TCPA. To be even more crystal clear—yes it is. (If you can follow that logic, you just might have a future in government.)