Telemarketing Archives

Consumer Groups to FTC: Improve the Telemarketing Sales Rule

August 25, 2022

The Federal Trade Commission has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).1 We applaud the Commission for proposing changes to its rules that will strengthen enforcement and better protect consumers from misconduct.

Comments in Opposition to the Petition for Declaratory Ruling Filed by SGS North America, Inc.

August 25, 2022

Comments of National Consumer Law Center on behalf of its low-income clients and Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, and National Association of Consumer Advocates in opposition to the Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by SGS North America, Inc.

Robocalls & Texts

Supreme Court Deals Blow to Protections Against Robocalls; Advocates Urge Congress to Act to Prevent a Tsunami of Unwanted Calls and Texts to Cellphones

April 1, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2021 Washington, D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court issued an opinion that nullifies one of the most important protections against unwanted robocalls: the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition against autodialed calls and texts to cellphones without the called party’s consent. In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, the Court interpreted the statute’s…

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Case on December 8 that Could Open the Floodgates to More Invasive Robocalls

December 7, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 7, 2020 Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Facebook v Duguid. The Court’s decision, expected by next spring, could either uphold Americans’ right to stop unwanted robocalls and robotexts to their cell phones or render the phones useless by making many invasive autodialed…

Telecom Carrier and Consumer Groups Stress Critical Need to Maintain Landmark Consumer Privacy Law to Protect Integrity of Communications System and Curb Robocalls in U.S. Supreme Court Case

March 3, 2020

Washington, D.C. – The National Consumer Law Center, the Consumer Federation of America and Verizon filed a joint amicus brief in Barr v American Association of Political Consultants, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which a group of robocallers is challenging the constitutionality of a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA),…

Bipartisan TRACED Act Signed Into Law, Latest Tool in Fight Against the Robocall Epidemic

December 30, 2019

FCC must now move aggressively to provide critical relief for consumers Washington, D.C. – Today, the bipartisan Pallone-Thune TRACED Act was signed into law in an important step forward to provide Americans some relief from the plague of robocalls. The final bill, passed overwhelming by the U.S. House last month, includes elements from the bills…

Robot Calls (prerecorded audio clips) Are Prerecorded Calls. And the FCC Agrees.

October 21, 2019

Prolific robocaller Yodel Technologies seeks exemption for making over 77 million unwanted and illegal telemarketing calls using AI and prerecorded voice messages. WASHINGTON – Yodel Technologies (Yodel) seeks to escape liability by petitioning the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an exemption for its “robot calls.” Using its “soundboard” technology to mimic a consumer’s interaction with…

Consumer Groups Praise Overwhelming House Passage of Strong Anti-Robocalls Bill

July 24, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives struck a strong bipartisan blow against robocalls plaguing consumers today with a near-unanimous 429 – 3 vote to pass H.R. 3375, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act. The bill takes major steps to curb abusive robocalling by adopting important new consumer protections including: Requiring clear FCC regulations to…

FCC Approves Phone Companies Proactively Blocking Robocalls

June 6, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2019 National Consumer Law Center Senior Attorney Margot Saunders issues statement on FCC proposal calling it “a meaningful first step, but not a magic bullet.” WASHINGTON, D.C.–Today, the FCC unanimously approved a proposal to grant phone service providers the authority to proactively block robocalls that its analysis determines are automated…

National Consumer Law Center Attorney Margot Saunders Will Testify at U.S. House Hearing on Legislating to Stop the Onslaught of Annoying Robocalls

April 30, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2019 U.S. on Track to Hit 60 Billion Robocalls in 2019 Full written testimony of National Consumer Law Center Senior Counsel Margot Saunders is available at: http://bit.ly/2UIVXIM Washington – On Tuesday, April 30 at 10:00 am ET, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications and Technology…

NCLC Attorney Margot Saunders to Testify at U.S. Senate Hearing on Stopping Illegal Robocalls on April 11; Will Urge FCC to Strengthen Key Federal Privacy Law

April 11, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 11, 2019 NCLC Attorney Margot Saunders to Testify at U.S. Senate Hearing on Stopping Illegal Robocalls on April 11; Will Urge FCC to Strengthen Key Federal Privacy Law Robocalls increase 370% since Dec. 2015 with 5.2 billion robocalls in March 2019 Full written testimony of National Consumer Law Center Senior Counsel…

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