In this month’s Telephone and Texting Compliance News, we report on an FCC Draft Report and Order, which, if adopted, would potentially require “one-to-one consent,” a recent US Senate hearing titled “Protecting Americans from Robocalls,” the Deter Obnoxious, Nefarious and Outrageous Telephone (“DO NOT”) Call Act reintroduced in the Senate, the FCC’s new inquiry into the impact of artificial intelligence on robocalling, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in True Health Chiropractic, Inc. v. McKesson Corp. approving decertification of a TCPA class action involving a fax, and the Arizona federal court’s holding in Howard v. Republican Nat’l Comm.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau released an Initial Determination Order against One Owl Telecom, giving the company 14 days to respond to a finding of noncompliance with a notice requiring the company to stop illegal traffic. If One Owl failed to respond or to demonstrate compliance by the deadline, the Bureau will issue an order requiring all downstream providers to block all One Owl traffic within 30 days.

In this month’s Telephone and Texting Compliance News, we report on the FCC’s adoption of rules adding new obligations for interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol service providers that obtain numbers for their customers directly from a numbering administrator and several Enforcement Bureau actions, including an Initial Determination Order against One Owl Telecom, 20 Orders to initiate the removal of noncompliant voice service and gateway providers from the Robocall Mitigation Database, and an order reinstating Global UC Inc.’s certification in the RMD.

On October 16, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau released 20 Orders to initiate the removal of noncompliant voice service and gateway providers from the Robocall Mitigation Database and reinstated Global UC Inc.’s certification in the RMD, which included entering into a Compliance Plan with the company.

The FCC adopted rules adding new obligations for interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol service providers that obtain numbers for their customers directly from a numbering administrator and is seeking comment on additional proposals involving direct access.

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a draft Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) on October 25, 2023 that would, if adopted, seek information about the impact of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on the FCC’s efforts to protect consumers from unwanted and unlawful calls and text messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). 

The FCC is increasing fees to access its DNC Registry as of October 1, the FCC re-selected a USTelecom-led industry group as its Registered Traceback Consortium, and the FCC set a new record for a robocall and spoofing fine.

In this month’s Telephone and Texting Compliance News, we report on upcoming hikes to the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry access fees, the FCC’s record fine of nearly $300 million for robocalling and spoofing, and the FCC’s re-selection of a USTelecom-led industry group as its Registered Traceback Consortium.

Read about the Commission’s effective date for requirements adopted in May for all voice service providers, legislation pending in Congress that would give the Commission more enforcement authority, and a joint initiative by the FCC, FTC, and state attorneys general to combat illegal robocalls aimed at committing fraud.

In this month’s Telephone and Texting Compliance News, we cover FCC deadlines for new voice service provider requirements, pending federal legislation that would give the FCC the authority to initiate litigation to enforce TCPA violations, the FCC’s participation in a federal and state multiagency initiative to combat scam calls, and a Ninth Circuit decision, which held that a phone line subscriber has standing to bring a TCPA case even though she wasn’t the recipient of the text message at issue.