All right folks, buckle up because I am about to blow some minds.
We all know that robocalls are a huge problem right?
Well maybe not so much anymore–and they are certainly not as big a problem as they were a few years ago. And your humble Czar has a lot to do with that.
Importantly, the FACTS blow a MASSIVE hole in the story of folks like the NCLC who peddle the LIE that a broader TCPA leads to less robocalls. The statistics show the opposite.
Let’s go all the way back to July 10, 2015–a date that will live in infamy.
An Obama-era FCC issues its TCPA omnibus ruling that expanded the TCPA (the federal enactment designed to stop robocalls but that really just creates litigation against small business) to convert every smartphone in the nation into an autodialer. The thought was that the broader the TCPA–the more restrictive the rules–the less robocalls would be made. Makes sense right?
Wrong.
Robocalls quadrupled after the ruling–demonstrating once and for all that a broad TCPA does NOT stop unwanted calls. The ruling, seemingly, only made things worse.
The FCC’s ridiculous TCPA Omnibus order was set aside by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018–meaning the TCPA was limited by the appellate court. According to TCPA apologists this should have made the robocall problem worse, right?
Wrong again.
Instead of increasing, complaints about robocall sank massively from 2018 to the end of 2019. This is exactly the Opposite of what folks at the NCLC and Democrats in Congress predicted. Indeed, complaints sank an incredible 40% year over year.
So the TCPA shrinks, and robocall complaints go DOWN massively.
And the trend continues.
In 2021 the Supreme Court limited the reach of the TCPA even further with its Facebook ruling. Once again the NCLC and Democrats in Congress predicted death by robocall and a massive increase in complaints.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Absolutely fools they were. (April fools.)
What really happened is that robocall complaints continue to drop, and massively.
Check it out:
As you can see robocall complaints kept right on falling even after the Supreme Court’s TCPA ruling–which a bunch of Democrats (wrongly) claimed would lead to more unwanted calls.
(All of these stats come directly from the FCC’s recent report to Congress BTW–so the source here is indisputable.)
By 2023 the number of robocall complaints is down 70% overall since 2018 and the number of complaints about DNC violations are down 63%!!!!
SO what’s going on here? IF the TCPA isn’t stopping robocalls what is happening? Why are the robocalls stopping?
Simple–the Czar. Eric J. Troutman.
I launched TCPAWorld.com in early 2019. TCPAworld.com is without question the single best read source for information about the TCPA. It made telecom law accessible to legitimate American businesses–many of which are small businesses who don’t have lawyers–who could read and understand the law for the first time. Totally free. No barriers.
So in 2019–for the first time ever–businesses began to understand the law. They learned about the TCPA. They learned about the DNC rules. And the more they learned the more they changed their practices to comply. Plus a lot of companies hired me to help them comply with the statute.
Then Queenie and I took to the stage at LeadCon, the TCPA Summit and other big lead generation conferences starting in 2020. We began preaching the gospel of TCPA to marketers big and small–whereas before we had been focused primarily on major banks and finance companies by mid-2020 our message was reaching hundreds high-volume marketers who gladly began changing their practices.
Through out tireless–and I do mean tireless–efforts we have almost single handedly changed the lead generation industry (which is the source of about a billion calls a month) from one that seemingly did not care about (or at least did not widely understand) the law to one that is extremely focused on compliance.
Our crowning achievement, of course, was the creation of Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment–R.E.A.C.H.–which is a trade organization devoted to stopping unwanted calls by EDUCATING industry participants and encouraging self-regulation.
Because it turns out that TEACHING PEOPLE about the law is FAR more effective at stopping unwanted calls than expanding statutes, enhancing enforcement or incentivizing trolls to sue people.
People really really do WANT to comply with the law–I have seen this throughout my career– they just don’t understand it. And small businesses tend to stick their head in the sand when they don’t understand something. But if you spoon feed it–lovingly–to them, they will get it. And they will change their ways.
AND THEY HAVE.
To the tune of a 70% reduction in robocall complaints.
So can the Czar really take credit for the massive reduction in robocalls (and complaints) since 2018?
Ummm… yeah.
Absolutely.
And no question about it.
Queenie and I have literally stopped billions of unwanted calls through our efforts. No one on Earth can claim to have stopped more. Those are just facts.
You’re welcome America.
Troutman 2024 baby.
Chat soon.