Addressing robocalls and robotexts under authority granted to it by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) continues to be a priority agenda item for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Most recently, the agency announced the results of a coordinated project with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that reduced the number of robocalls coming from international locations by targeting warning letters to seven gateway providers.
Additionally, comment and reply comment dates of February 26 and March 12, 2024 are now established for consideration of additional changes to the FCC's robotext rules. The comment period provides an opportunity for industry to have input into policymaking to ensure that any new rules adopted do not have unintended consequences. The FCC seeks comment on the following issues:
- Putting in place stronger blocking requirements once a provider receives notification from the agency to block
- Providing updates on the progress on technical advances for text messaging authentication
- Requiring providers to place email-to-text services under the "opt in" consent rules
- Providing any additional information that would help the agency determine how it can better refine and expand its efforts to assist businesses, particularly small businesses, in complying with the one-to-one prior express written consent requirement
Finally, new robocall rules will go into effect beginning this March. A Federal Register notice sets the following effective dates for new robocall rules that were adopted last year:
- March 26, 2024: Codifies the National DNC Registry's existing protections to text messages
- July 24, 2024: Requires terminating mobile wireless providers to block texts from specific identified numbers upon receipt of a Notification of Illegal Texts from the FCC
- January 27, 2025: The prior written consent rules requiring consumer's prior express written consent to robocall or robotext the consumer soliciting a business. The FCC has referred to these rules as "closing the lead generator loophole."
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