TCPAWORLD AFTERDARK: The FTC Just Said “Third party robocall lead generation is illegal under the Telemarketing Sales Rule” and this is Madness…

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This just happened.

What in the backward talking madness is this?

Lead generation is illegal? Since when FTC? And… why FTC?

The FTC’s linkedin account MUST have been hacked, because there’s no way the agency would formally announce–without any NPRM, rulemaking or court determination–that lead generation is illegal.

That’s just… not true.

And saying it on Linkedin doesn’t make it true. I have heard of legislating through enforcement, but legislating through social media I mean… come on.

There’s a cold irony to the FTC making false statements that mislead consumers online, but I will leave that alone for a second.

Anyway, I need to digest this. But for everyone out there in TCPAWorld, this is just a wild development and one we will certainly discuss at the webinars next week.

ROBUST AUGUST: The Czar’s Speaking Schedule for Next Month is Coming Together And You Have to Pay Attention At This Point

All the more reason to attend. (Also if you’re at ASE next week you might want to have them shutdown the show for an hour and tune in. The FTC LITERALLY just declared your business illegal on LinkedIn. So this is pretty important.)

 

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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.

6 Comments

  2. Glad you’re spotlighting this. Do you think the FTC is conflating TCPA and TSR? Btw, the FTC made almost the same statement at paragraph 100 of the Fluent complaint —

    Defendants have also tricked consumers into clicking a single, deceptively labeled checkbox, which they have treated as blanket consent for receiving telemarketing solicitations from dozens or even hundreds of third parties. The purported agreements generated from these “consent farm” websites are a crude attempt to circumvent the TSR’s requirement that, to initiate a robocalls, the specific seller obtain consent directly from a consumer, and only after providing clear and conspicuous disclosure.

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  4. With the anonymity of the internet, I don’t see how ANY online consent holds up in court anyway. Who is to say who really filled out that lead form or clicked that button? It’s like we’re going to have to require a drivers license or some other id verification to show consent.

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  5. Hey, JC, the telemarketers have Jornaya to prove that you filled out the online consent. Some of Troutman’s clients swear by it. Amazing how they always come up with those magic videos.

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