Report to Congress Pursuant to the Do No Call Implementation Act on Regulatory Coordination in Federal Telemarketing Laws

摘要

The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) amended Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) revised regulations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) derive from distinct Congressional mandates. The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (Telemarketing Act) directs the FTC to promulgate a rule 'prohibiting deceptive telemarketing acts or practices and other abusive telemarketing acts or practices,' and gives the FTC broad discretion in determining how best to remedy such deceptive or abusive conduct. The TCPA directs the FCC to engage in rulemaking 'to protect residential telephone subscribers' privacy rights to avoid receiving telephone solicitations to which they object.' Specifically, the TCPA restricts the use of automated dialing equipment, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, unsolicited advertisements sent to facsimile machines, and the use of an automatic telephone dialing system in such a way that two or more telephone lines of a multi-line business are engaged, and directs the FCC to prescribe regulations to implement this provision, allowing for discretionary exemptions. Superimposed on both the Telemarketing Act and the TCPA is the Do Not Call Implementation Act (DNCIA) directive that the Federal Communications Commission shall consult and coordinate with the Federal Trade Commission to maximize consistency with the rule promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission 16 C.F.R. 310.4(b). Section 310.4(b) of the FTC's TSR primarily addresses Do Not Call and call abandonment. On the whole, the agencies have created consistent and complementary regulatory schemes, not only with regard to Do Not Call and call abandonment, but also other areas outside the scope of 16 C.F.R. Section 310.4(b), such as calling time restrictions and transmission of Caller ID information. However, there are some differences between the agencies' regulations that may have an impact on the number of unwanted calls that consumers receive.