FCC Targets Robocalls
The FCC Wednesday proposed further restrictions on the use of robocalls, which are prerecorded telephone calls using a computer. Under the proposed revisions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, sellers and telemarketers would be required to obtain written consent from consumers before making robocalls even if the caller has an established business relationship with the consumer.
The changes are aimed at harmonizing the FCC's rules with revisions recently adopted by the FTC. The FCC's rules are aimed at telephone companies, airlines, banks, and insurance companies, which fall outside the FTC's jurisdiction. In particular, the proposed FCC rules would require robocalls to include an automated mechanism allowing consumers to "opt out" of receiving future robocalls from the caller and also would exempt some federally regulated healthcare-related calls from the rules.
Some types of calls already exempted from robocall restrictions would continue to be exempt such as calls from tax-exempt nonprofits, calls from political campaigns, and informational calls that are not engaged in marketing or advertising such as a call from an airline providing a flight update.
"These proposed changes set the commission on a path to harmonize its prerecorded message rules with the Federal Trade Commission's recent rule amendments in this area and, in effect, would apply the Federal Trade Commission's more stringent standards to certain entities ... that operate outside the scope of the Federal Trade Commission's jurisdiction," FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Joel Gurin said in a statement.
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