The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) understandably leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many corporate defendants, but there are signs of positive developments on the horizon. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently entered an order giving a retroactive break to businesses, namely those in the medical industry, that send marketing information via faxes. There also are multiple petitions pending before the FCC that may lessen the TCPA’s burden on companies engaged in any number of business practices. The TCPA’s litigation landscape may be set for a positive change, and potential corporate defendants and their lawyers should closely monitor these developments and contribute to this effort when possible.
Background
The TCPA first was introduced in 1991 as an antitelemarketing statute, “a bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit certain practices involving the use of telephone equipment for advertising and solicitation purposes.” Given its strict liability nature and prescribed statutory damages, however, the law has attracted great interest from the plaintiffs’ bar, which has expanded the statute’s scope well past what Congress originally intended. And there is no waning interest in sight: since 2010, TCPA litigation has grown by 560 percent.
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