So 2023 has been an absolutely incredible year for TCPAWorld so far.
Indeed, each of the first 6 months of 2023 have been in the top 10 all time for views and February, March and May, 2023 are the top 3 months ever on TCPAWorld.com.
Amazing how critical this little blog has become to the ecosystem.
As we hit the halfway point on 2023–my goodness time flies!!!–here are the top 10 biggest stories of the year so far, based upon readership:
10. Cyber Incident Paralyzes #Biglaw Firm
In one of the most shocking stories of the year, #biglaw firm Troutman Pepper–NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH ULTRA-SAFE AND POWERFUL TROUTMAN AMIN, LLP— was hit with a massive security breach, just days after one of its partners talked about cybersecurity with a major news outlet!
Ouch.
But it was kind of bad news for me too because a bunch of folks got confused and thought my firm had been hacked–but NO WAY. We are way safer than these #bigfirms firms that keep getting broken into. They have way to many paths to infiltration. But Troutman Amin, LLP continues on, strong and secure as ever.
9. The Wolf Cashes in Against Citrix
Folks loving reading about the Wolf of TCPAWorld and his various exploits. Most recently he scored another massive payday when he joined with a pack of other lawyers to take down Citrix.
Folks gobbled up the story and it quickly became one of the best read pieces of the year.
8. CIPA Case Against Popular Retailer Captures Everyone’s Attention
The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) is the hottest litigation on Earth right now. There’s a reason we launched cipaworld.com!
Well one case in particular really caught eyes–and that is a new suit against fashion merchandiser Hot Topic.
Keeping an eye on CIPA trends is critical–its been a real hot topic so far this year– so it does not surprise me at all that this story was our 8th best read of the year so far.
7. The Anti-Robocall Task Force Makes its First Move
Long before TRACED became law and I remember telling folks at the creation of an anti-robocall task force would be a really tough thing for industry–and so it begins.
The taskforce went live about a year ago and it brought its first case–against VoIP provider Avid Telecom– just last month.
No surprise TCPAWorld readers couldn’t get enough of this story and they gleaned lesson and wondered what the future of anti-robocall litigation might look like.
6. Phone Burner Disaster (Part 1)
One of the most fascinating stories of the year so far was the damage done to popular outbound dialing platform Phone Burner after the FCC directed carriers to shut down traffic of a user of the platform– MV Realty.
Predictably the carriers over reacted and shut down essentially all traffic by Phone Burner–causing absolutely monumental damage to the platform and its users.
Word of the order broke on TCPAWorld and thousands of people gobbles up the news within hours.
5. Word of a Possible FCC Shutdown of Short Duration Calls Catches Fire
Continuing the trend of news related to FCC-triggered calling shutdowns, just last week I posted a story about the Commission shutting down short-duration callers and it spread like wildfire.
Indeed, in less than a week this story has already catapulted up to become the 5th best read story of 2023.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise given the huge damages being caused here. Yet no one seems to be able to confirm whether anything is actually happening at all.
4. Keller William’s Massive $40MM TCPA Settlement Makes Waves
It is easy to see why this story was so popular.
Real estate agency giant KW was caught up in a MASSIVE TCPA class action and had to pay 40 MILLION dollars to get out of it. Wow!
This critical reminder to companies of the danger the TCPA still poses has circulated far and wide and climbed up the TCPAWorld charts.
3. A New York Law Redefining Autodialer Catches Everyone Off Guard
In an era of proliferating state Mini-TCPAs it should come as no surprise that one of the best read stories of the years has to do with state autodialer restrictions.
But what IS a surprise is that the state of New York quietly redefined the definition of autodialer altogether–looking at criteria no one had ever considered before.
This revamping of the old autodialer approach has raised eyebrows from coast to coast and my short piece breaking down the definition has become the 3rd most read story of the year.
2. The Phone Burner Disaster (Part 2)
As big as the news of the FCC shutdown of Phone Burner was in the first instance, there was something hugely compelling about the desperate plight of the company to assuage its customers in the wake of the shutdown.
With Phone Burner in huge trouble it posted a desperate plea on its website to its customers to stick with it as it battled with the carriers to have its traffic turned back on. I wrote about it and within hours Phone Burner had been reinstated with the major carriers, but it was a really scary time for the company and its users–as you can imagine.
Folks were really attracted to this story as the entire TCPAWorld community came together to watch and fret along.
1. The Potential End of the Lead Generation Industry
It should come as no surprise that TCPAWorld’s best read story of 2023–and its best read story ever–is the article that broke the news the FCC is considering shutting down the entire lead generation industry.
As everyone knows, the FCC is currently considering an NPRM that may require consent to be provided “directly” from a consumer to a brand–cutting out all lead generators or aggregators. It would be a move that would gut an entire industry and put tens of thousands of businesses out of business, for good.
Still, with very powerful forces backing the proposed ruling, 2023 may truly be the end of the lead generation world. The Czar has fought hard to keep the good small businesses in the ecosystems afloat–but the yeas of lawlessness abuses in the industry have finally caught up to it.
We will all be waiting with baited breath for the outcome of the FCC’s NPRM and the drama surrounding the potential end of a massive industry has attracted tens of thousands of eyeballs and made this story the most popular all time.
So now you are all caught up on the biggest stories of the year so far. And if you want MORE information we will be covering ALL of these developments–and more at the Troutman Amin, LLP Summer Marketing/Advertising/Privacy Law conference on July 13, 2023.
In-person tickets are SOLD OUT but you can still attend our virtual option!
