AFSA, Trades Submit Letter Urging for TCPA Clarification
The American Financial Services Association, joining a number of other trade associations representing a wide variety of industries, submitted a letter on February 5 to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to clarify its definition of automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) found in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
The combined trades noted that a declaratory rule would help stem the tide of abusive TCPA litigation fueled by uncertainty regarding the ATDS definition. The Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, which was enacted on December 30, 201, makes important strides in protecting consumers from illegal robocalls. The letter notes that combatting illegal robocalls is a shared goal of the FCC, consumer advocates and legitimate businesses and makes two common sense requests of the FCC:
· First, “make clear that to be an ATDS, equipment must use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers and dial those numbers without human intervention.”
· Second, “find that only calls made using actual ATDS capabilities are subject to the TCPA’s restrictions.”
These proposals are “faithful to the plain language of the TCPA, closely follow the D.C. Circuit’s decision in ACA International, and have strong support in the record. The letter laid out a concrete case explaining the rationale for the two proposals and asked the FCC to act without further delay. “The Commission can issue an interpretation of ATDS that facilitates the ability of businesses to use modern technologies to communicate with their customers effectively and efficiently. The Commission can take this action without impairing its important work to combat illegal automated calls,” the letter closed.
February 5th, 2020
