Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act
The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (
Background
The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act was deemed necessary in an advancing world. With the new waves of telemarketing and digital data Congress found that there are unique differences in telemarketing that deem new rules and regulations necessary.
Congressional Findings
It was determined that Telemarketing is different from other sales activities due to the fact that sales activities can be carried out by sellers across state lines without direct contact with the consumer. Telemarketers also can be very mobile, easily moving from state to state.[3] With this being stated it is easy to see how there has been a rise in telemarketing fraud, which was found to be of such a magnitude that the Federal Trade Commission needed more resources to deal with it.[3] There was found to be an estimated $40 billion a year lost to telemarketing fraud, and that consumers are victimized by non-monetary forms of telemarketing fraud as well.[3] It was concluded that Congress should enact legislation to offer consumers protection from these telemarketing threats.[3]
Enforcement and Challenges
As part of complying with the act the Federal Trade Commission put new provisions on telemarketing. These new regulations include the Do Not Call (DNC) provisions and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).[4] However, with the establishment of these provisions, companies objected to it and some filed suits arguing their rights as a business were being infringed upon. While the 10th circuit court ruled in favor of industry in regards to rules on customer proprietary network information earlier making it seem as though industry was going to win all consumer data cases; when industry objected to the DNC the court ruled in favor of the government stating that the Federal Trade Commission has a right to make and enforce the DNC provision.[5]
In April 2018, a divided panel of the
References
- ^ "Summary of H.R. 868 (103rd): Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act".
- ^ "Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act". 19 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d "15 U.S. Code § 6101 - Findings".
- ^ "Q&A for Telemarketers & Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR". 23 August 2016.
- ^ "Privacy Law: Positive Theory and Normative Practice".
- ^ Note, Recent Case: D.C. Circuit Holds that Informal Staff Letters Are Not Eligible for Judicial Review Under the Administrative Procedure Act, 132 Harv. L. Rev. 1345 (2019).
- ^ Soundboard Ass’n v. FTC, 888 F.3d 1261 (D.C. Cir. 2018).
External links
- Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act entry in FTC Legal Library
- As codified in 15 U.S.C. chapter 87 of the United States Code from the LII
- As codified in 15 U.S.C. chapter 87 of the United States Code from the US House of Representatives
- Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
- Summaries for the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, Library of Congress, (1994)
- Privacy Law: Positive Theory and Normative Practice; Anita L. Allen; 2013
- Q&A for Telemarketers & Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR; Federal Trade Commission