FCC Comissioner Voices Concerns Regarding TCPA Lawsuits

Last year, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael O’Rielly called for a simplification of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, reasoning that the law may have become too complex after several amendments and court ruling expanded the law.

TheTelephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (or the TCPA) was enacted by Congress due to constituent concerns that new technologies like robocall machines and other automatic telephone dialing systems could make it easier for companies and solicitors to cheaply contact large number of consumers. The TCPA has been challenged in court by telemarketers who have argued that the law infringes on their First Amendment rights. But several Supreme Court rulings have firmly established the law’s constitutionality and expanded it beyond unsolicited phone calls to include text message spam and other newer technologies.

Commissioner O’Rielly has characterized the TCPA as a largely successful endevour. However, the Commissioner believes the law may have grown unwieldy. In his statement, O’Rielly says:

“The FCC must hold bad actors accountable when they violate this law. But the FCC should also follow through on the pending TCPA petitions to make sure that good actors and innovators are not needlessly subjected to enforcement actions or lawsuits, which could discourage them from offering new consumer-friendly communications services.”

Numerous consumers have filed TCPA lawsuits, alleging that various companies have broken the TCPA with text message spam and other types of harassing advertisements and communications. In fact, O’Rielly’s statement says that TCPA lawsuits increased by 30 percent during 2013 alone. While Commissioner O’Rielly’s statement holds that this increase is due to new rules and precedents that expand the TCPA’s scope beyond the law’s original intentions, his statement does not address whether this increase could be the result of willful violations of the TCPA by telemarketing firms.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

The TCPA was designed to be partially enforced through TCPA lawsuits by consumers. These lawsuits include statutory damages, a set amount of money awarded per violation of the law above and beyond any actual damages. This is intended to discourage telemarketers from breaking TCPA statutes. Specifically, the TCPA calls for $500 in statutory damages each time a company breaks the TCPA, or up to $1,500 if the violations are “willful and knowing.” Whether or not a TCPA violation is “willful” is at the discretion of the court.

While the TCPA has always carried some degree of controversy, TCPA lawsuits, often taking the form of TCPA class action lawsuits, continue to be filed.

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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