Telemarketing and Robocall Law

Federal, state, and individual plaintiffs are aggressively combatting a single concern: rampant robocalls using VoIP and Cloud services. The single most important step any company can take is to consult with experienced telecom counsel.

The CommLaw Group’s “Robocall Mitigation Response Team” has the knowledge and experience of federal telemarketing law to help clients become and maintain compliant in the U.S. and internationally, identify risks, plan for cost-effective risk mitigation measures to support any defensive action, and red-flag issues surfacing in this rapidly changing federal, state, and local ecosystem.

TCPA Compliance

The TCPA restricts the making of telemarketing calls and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems and artificial or prerecorded voice messages (robocalls). The rules apply to common carriers as well as to other marketers.

In 1992, the Commission adopted rules to implement the TCPA, including the requirement that entities making telephone solicitations institute procedures for maintaining company-specific do-not-call lists.

STIR/SHAKEN Implementation

Recently, the FCC implemented STIR/SHAKEN, a technology framework designed to reduce fraudulent robocalls and illegal phone number spoofing. STIR stands for Secure Telephony Identity Revisited. SHAKEN stands for Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs.

State Attorneys General are aggressively pursuing VSPs for robocall violations, pushing compliance requirements, even beyond what the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires.  

The most significant risk facing VSPs are the federal and state consumer protection policies and precedents being created through enforcement proceedings and litigation around robocall mitigation.

• FEDERAL: The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Know Your Customer” (KYC) standard is being applied to hold VSPs responsible for illegal robocalls using their networks. The FCC is aggressively stepping up enforcement, and asking Congress for more enforcement authority to prosecute robocall suspects, including the ability to seize their assets and take them directly to court.
• STATE: AGs are enforcing STIR/SHAKEN using consumer protection laws and emphasizing the KYC standard.
• CIVIL: Suits are being filed using a variety of legal arguments.

Mitigating illegal and unwanted robocall traffic from your network, as a call originator or reseller, requires a gap analysis of your policies, practices, procedures, and tools.

“Know or Should Have Known” Standards 

The FTC’s and some state AGs' robocall mitigation enforcement hinges on applying the “known or should have known” standard to determine whether a provider facilitated an illegal robocall.

Telecommunications providers are expected to use the FTC’s “Know Your Customer” (KYC) technology to verify the identities of their customers before doing business.

Providers may be held liable for failing to utilize KYC technology to mitigate illegal robocalls.

Summary 

Technical Implementation:

Non-facilities-based resellers must incorporate the required analytics in the IP portions of their networks to deploy the necessary STIR/SHAKEN capabilities.

Administrative Process:

• Step 1: Obtain an Operating Company Number
• Step 2: Register with the Policy Administrator
• Step 3: Get a token from the Policy Administrator.
• Step 4: Select a Certification Authority
• Step 5: Request a Certificate
• Step 6: Update the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database to certify as fully STIR/SHAKEN compliant