On February 8, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized its plan to ban robocalls that feature voices generated by artificial intelligence, aiming to stem the tide of AI-generated scams and misinformation campaigns. 

The FCC’s declaratory ruling formalized its position that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)—specifically, the provision prohibiting the initiation of calls “using an artificial prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party”—applies to the use of AI-generated voices. … Continue Reading

Plans announced on May 15 by the FCC to empower voice service providers to offer more aggressive call-blocking programs could create significant problems for creditors and debt collectors.  In addition to allowing providers to block unwanted calls by default, the FCC plans to allow providers to offer opt-in blocking in which a consumer can elect to block calls from any numbers that are not on the consumer’s own contact list. … Continue Reading

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow, August 16, titled “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission.”  The Committee’s website indicates that the hearing will examine policy issues before the FCC and review the FCC’s ongoing duties and activities.

The witnesses scheduled to appear are the four sitting FCC Commissioners (Chairman Pai and Commissioners O’Reilly, Carr, and Rosenworcel). … Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) have announced they will host a joint policy forum (“Forum”) in Washington, D.C. on March 23 titled, “Fighting the Scourge of Illegal Robocalls.” The Forum will cover recent policy changes and enforcement actions as well as the agencies’ efforts to encourage private sector technological solutions.… Continue Reading

A D.C. federal district court has rejected a trade group’s attempt to invalidate a November 2016 FTC opinion in which the agency concluded that outbound telemarketing calls made using soundboard technology are subject to the prior written consent requirement for robocalls in the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

The TSR’s robocall written consent requirement applies to “any outbound telephone call that delivers a prerecorded message.” … Continue Reading