Marketing Law Blog

FCC Seeking Comments on Petition Concerning Fax Opt-Outs

The FCC is asking for comments on two petitions concerning the agency's rules about required opt-out language on fax advertisements. The petitioners argue that based on the Anda Order (See page 2 of this document), faxes that were sent with the prior consent of the recipients should not require the opt-out language  Additional information, including instructions for how to comment on the petition, can be found here. Click to watch a video about the general concept of "Prior Express Written Consent" in the direct marketing industry.

FCC Releases Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Unlawful Robocalls

Last week, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding a potential change in robocall regulations. Based on the fact sheet released by the FCC, the NPRM:

• Proposes to adopt rules that providers may block spoofed robocalls when the subscriber to a particular telephone number requests that calls originating from that number be blocked (sometimes called “Do-Not-Originate”). This proposal builds on a clarification made by the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in 2016 at the request of the industry’s Robocall Strike Force.
• Proposes to adopt rules that providers may block spoofed robocalls when the spoofed Caller ID can’t possibly be valid, including numbers that haven’t been assigned to anyone yet.
• Seeks special comment on how to address spoofing from internationally-originated numbers, where scammers often hide to avoid U.S. legal processes.

More information can be found here. Instructions for how to submit comments begin on page 13. Learn more about the FCC's telemarketing regulations.