Rack Room Shoes, Inc. (Rack Room) has agreed to pay up to nearly $26 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA). The lawsuit, Goldschmidt v. Rack Room Shoes, Inc., centers on claims that defendant Rack Room violated the TCPA when it initiated a text message
FTC and state law enforcement officials step up efforts against illegal telemarketing
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a joint state-and-federal initiative, “Operation Call It Quits,” which targets illegal telemarketing practices that violate the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
The TSR, which applies to interstate telephonic marketing communications intended to “induce the purchase of goods or services or a charitable contribution,” makes it illegal to engage in “abusive” acts and practices like failing to transmit caller identification information, calling telephone numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, and using certain types of prerecorded messages or “robocalls.” The TSR also makes it illegal to engage in “deceptive” acts and practices while on a telemarketing call, like processing billing information without authorization, failing to fully disclose certain information before a customer consents to pay for goods or services, and misrepresenting material details of a sale. As part of this latest sweep of TSR enforcement, the FTC announced four newly filed actions:
- In the first action, the FTC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against corporate and individual defendants alleged to have made illegal robocalls to “financially distressed consumers” with offers of “bogus credit card interest rate reduction services.”
- In the second action, the FTC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against individual and corporate defendants accused of using illegal robocalls to sell “fraudulent money-making opportunities.”
- The third action, filed on the FTC’s behalf by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Middle District of Florida, targeted the “informational technology (IT) guy” alleged to have developed and operated computer-based “autodialer” technology used to make millions of illegal robocalls.
- The fourth action, filed by the DOJ on the FTC’s behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that a business and its individual owners sought to develop marketing leads for home solar energy companies by making millions of illegal robocalls and engaging in other abusive practices, including making more than 1,000 calls to a single telephone number in one year.
Lyft Faces Second Wave of TCPA Litigation for Sending Autodialed Texts
Lyft, Inc. – the popular ride hailing service featuring the iconic pink moustache – is facing a second class action lawsuit in California alleging violations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).
This alleges that Lyft sent unwanted and unsolicited text messages to cellphones using an automated dialing system without first obtaining express written consent
What Constitutes an Autodialer? The Debate Continues
This post was also written by Jack Gindi.
A recent state court decision in California, and before it, a district court decision in Alabama, both found that equipment used to facilitate telephone communications must have the current capacity to randomly or sequentially generate telephone numbers in order to be considered an “automatic telephone dialing system.”
DING-A-LING-A-LING: The FCC Enforcement Bureau Calling!
While telemarketers, debt collectors and others wait for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to answer technical questions such as “EXACTLY what is an autodialer,” the FCC has just made clear that the agency, at least, knows one when it sees one! In companion orders released on Friday (3/15/13), the FCC issued citations to two robocallers