New FTC Amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule Regarding Call Abandonment and Pre-Recorded Voice
Posted by: Andy Lustigman
September 03, 2008

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced two important amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Published on August 29, 2008 in the Federal Register, one amendment harmonizes the FTC's call abandonment calculation standard with that of the Federal Communications Commission's standard and the other dramatically limits the FTC's current policy on pre-recorded voice calls.

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Lead Generation Industry Must Take Notice Of FTC Settlement with Ameriquest
Posted by: Adam Solomon
November 12, 2007

On October 7, 2007 the FTC announced six settlements with companies and individuals accused of violating the requirements of the National Do Not Call Registry. One of the settlements was with Ameriquest Mortgage Company who allegedly made improper calls to consumers on the Registry whose numbers had been obtained from third-party lead generators. The lead generators enticed consumers to provide their contact information, including phone numbers, using Web sites that offered information on financial and other products.

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FTC Pledges Not to Drop Numbers From Do Not Call Registry, Pending Final Congressional or Agency Action
Posted by: Jonathan Ezor
October 23, 2007

The FTC pledged not to allow the first entries in the Do Not Call registry expire as scheduled, pending Congressional or agency action on the underlying regulations.

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FTC To Temporarily Continue Forbearance Policy Regarding Prerecorded Voice Messaging
Posted by: Andy Lustigman
January 03, 2007

The Federal Trade Commission announced that it will continue past January 2, 2007 its policy of forbearing enforcement of the prerecorded voice messaging policy under certain limited conditions. Telemarketers relying on the safe harbor must be prepared to demonstrate an established business relationship as well as allowing the telephone to ring for at least fifteen (15) seconds or four (4) rings before disconnecting an unanswered call;
within two (2) seconds after the person's completed greeting, the seller or telemarketer promptly plays a prerecorded message that: (A) Presents an opportunity to assert an entity-specific Do Not Call request at the outset of the message, with only the prompt disclosures required by ? 310.4(d) or (e) preceding such opportunity; and (B) Complies with all other requirements of the TSR and other applicable federal and state laws. The Federal Register notice can be found here.

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DMA to Phase Out TPS Consumer Registrations
Posted by: Adam Solomon
September 25, 2006

On November 1, 2006 the DMA will phase out TPS Consumer Registrations. The change will impact telemarketers.

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New Fax Marketing Law In Effect
Posted by: Andy Lustigman
August 02, 2006

Businesses large and small alike that rely on fax advertisements to generate business need to carefully consider the new requirements now in place before transmitting such advertisements.   While the FCC seems to be taking a more flexible approach than other agencies on the issue of established business relationship, there are important requirements, including substantiating the established business relationship and how the recipient's fax number was obtained, as well as providing a cost-free method of opting out that must be followed.