JAIL TIME: A New (Old) Bill Was Just Introduced In Congress that Might Have Legs–And it Could Mean PRISON For TCPA Violators

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Well the “Deter Obnoxious, Nefarious, and Outrageous Telephone Calls Act” –or the ‘‘DO NOT Call Act of 2023’’–is back in the House.

We’ve seen this bill before, of course. 

But this time it feels a bit different. I’m hearing preliminarily that there might be a smidge more room for this one to breathe, and it comes early in the session.

Still too soon to know for sure if this one has legs, but R.E.A.C.H. will be weighing in on it shortly. Of course we’re busy already with this big CMS thing…

You can read the full version of the new bill here.  

Also here is the grandstanding press release of the bill’s primary sponsor:

Today, Congressman David Kustoff (TN-08) and Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) reintroduced the bipartisan, Deter Obnoxious, Nefarious, and Outrageous Telephone Calls (DO NOT Call) Act in the House of Representatives. This legislation would help deter robocalls by creating stricter penalties for companies and individuals who engage in the intentional harassment of consumers. 

In 2022, Americans received more than 50 billion robocalls and lost an estimated $40 billion to telephone scams and fraud schemes; a $10 billion increase from 2021. Despite efforts by Congress and industry to combat illegal robocalls, there is little evidence that they are slowing down.

“West Tennesseans, and all Americans, can agree that robocalls are a nuisance that take away from our everyday lives,” said Congressman Kustoff. “I introduced the DO NOT Call Act with Congresswoman Ross to give our judicial system more authority to protect Americans from receiving these calls, and from being scammed and defrauded as a result. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to support this crucial legislation and provide Americans much needed relief from harassing robocalls and scams.”

“Everybody hates robocalls. While there are certain limited situations where they make sense, by and large they are a way of letting someone waste our time without wasting their time. I appreciate the efforts of Congressman Kustoff to stop this relentless annoyance and look forward to using the tools he is providing to protect Tennesseans from obnoxious interruptions,” said Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.

“The troubling rise in robocalls isn’t just annoying – it poses a serious threat to consumers, especially older Americans,” said Congresswoman Ross. “Malicious actors and companies are targeting vulnerable Americans with aggressive, manipulative tactics to extract sensitive personal information and defraud and scam victims. There is an urgent need for Congressional action to protect consumers, deter predatory robocalls, and hold individuals and companies accountable. I am grateful for Congressman Kustoff’s partnership on this issue and look forward to advancing this important legislation.”

“Robocallers are at best annoying and at worst a way for criminals to steal people’s hard-earned money. The scammers who make these calls need to be held responsible, which is exactly what Rep. Ross is prioritizing with her work to pass the DO NOT Call Act and impose harsher penalties for robocallers and scammers. I look forward to continuing to partner with Rep. Ross to fight to end robocalls and protect North Carolinians,” said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.

My two cents: The say that doing the same thing over and over again is the definition of insanity. The TCPA already has insane penalties. Yet robocalls continue. Because the TCPA does not work.

So rather than do something that would, Congress just wants to keep heaping nonsense on top of the TCPA rather than actually get to the solution.

R.E.A.C.H. is the solution. Together responsible direct to consumer marketers and data partners can stop more robocalls than Congress ever has through the TCPA. And that effort is well under way. Come join us if you want to be part of a better telecom ecosystem for all.

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

1 Comment

  1. You said:

    R.E.A.C.H. is the solution. Together responsible direct to consumer marketers and data partners can stop more robocalls than Congress ever has through the TCPA. And that effort is well under way. Come join us if you want to be part of a better telecom ecosystem for all.

    Wasn’t Telewatch supposed to do that?

    I hope Eric can convince an industry that continues to beak the law and invade the privacy of people to clean up their act. But if that fails…….

    I have a better idea—Instead of sending these telemarketers to prison, the government should sentence them to a sentence that goes something like this: I sentence you to 3 years in telephone jail–you will be required to provide your phone number to us and we have the right to send telemarketing calls to you which you must answer and interact with. Fail to respond constitutes escaping from jail, at which time you will be incarcerated for the remaining time in a Federal Institution, in a special cell which has telemarketing calls played to you every 10 minutes.

    Now THAT would stop them!

    Reply

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