MEANWHILE IN FLORIDA: THE HON. AILEEN M. CANNON JUST REMINDED EVERYONE CELL PHONES ARE NOT “RESIDENTIAL” LINES UNDER THE TCPA…

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Well it is a pretty exciting day around TCPAWorld.

Just a few moments ago I dropped word of a new FCC ruling that will make it far easier for businesses to recognize and honor TCPA revocation and opt out requests.

And now I get to discuss a new ruling out of the S.D.Fl. holding that cell phones are not residential lines for DNC purposes.

In MICHAEL ANTHONY, v. BRIAN MARKETING GROUP, Doc. 22 (S.D. Fl. Sept. 11, 2026) the court just refused to enter default judgment in favor of the Plaintiff concluding the SMS messages to his cell phone at issue in the case did not trigger the TCPA’s DNC rules.

However this ruling was NOT based on the conclusion that texts aren’t telephone calls– as son many other courts have found. Instead the court determined cell phones aren’t residential lines (as required by the DNC rules) to begin with:

This is because the enabling statute, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c), authorizes the FCC to promulgate regulations to protect the privacy rights of “residential telephone subscribers[],” not cellular phone subscribers. 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(1); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c), (e). Because the FCC’s 2003 Order purports to redefine the term “residential telephone subscriber” to include “wireless subscriber” and thereby to expand the private right of action under § 227(c)(5) to all cellphone users, the FCC has exceeded its statutory authority under § 227(c)(1)–(2) in that regard.

Holy smokes!

This is a huge and remarkable departure from the majority rule– and it is a lengthy and extremely well reasoned opinion (especially considering it was issued in response to a default judgment effort!)

This opinion was penned by the Hon. Aileen M. Cannon– famous for tossing the Biden DOJ’s case against Trump related to the confidential documents he took to Mar A Lago– and it is definitely worth the read.

Will be interesting to see if other courts are prepared to follow her lead. We’ll keep an eye on all of this.

And you should keep an eye on Deserve to Win. Ep 49 with special guest Nima Hakimi!

Also shout out to my buddy Jeffrey B. Pertnoy over at Akerman for flagging this for me!

Chat soon.

 

 

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Published by Eric "Czar" 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.

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