Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
DA 14-1505
October 21, 2014
Enforcement Advisory No. 2014-04
FCC ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY
TELEPHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT ROBOCALL RULES
WARNING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS AND PROMOTERS AGAINST ROBOCALL ABUSE
As the 2014 campaign season continues, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau reminds political campaigns and calling services that there are clear limits on the use of autodialed calls, prerecorded voice calls, and text messages (known as "robocalls.") The FCC is committed to protecting consumers from harassing, intrusive, and unwanted robocalls and texts, including to cell phones, smart phones, and other mobile devices. As demonstrated by the $2.9 million proposed fine issued earlier this year, we are closely monitoring this space and will not hesitate to act to protect consumer privacy and their freedom from the nuisance of unwanted calls.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") places limits on unsolicited prerecorded telemarketing calls to landline home telephones, and all autodialed or prerecorded voice calls to wireless numbers, emergency numbers, and patient rooms at health care facilities. The FCC's corresponding rules governing political telephone calls set forth restrictions that govern the use of prerecorded voice messages and automated telephone dialing systems including those that deliver text messages. These provisions apply to all such prerecorded and autodialed calls or messages under any circumstances, including certain political calls. The restrictions vary according to whether a call is delivered to a business or residential landline telephone, a cell phone, or some other category of protected telephone lines such as toll-free lines, emergency lines, or those lines servicing hospitals, nursing homes, and paging systems.
We expect that this Advisory will lead to greater compliance with the law and rules by senders of political prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls, and we again warn those who choose to use these tools to strictly observe their legal limits. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau will rigorously enforce the important consumer protections in the TCPA and our corresponding rules.
Prohibition Against Prerecorded Voice Messages and Autodialed Calls to Cell Phones and Other Mobile Services. Prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls (including autodialed live calls, prerecorded or artificial voice messages, and text messages) to cell phones and other mobile services such as paging systems are prohibited, subject to only two exceptions: 1) calls made for emergency purposes, and 2) calls made with the prior express consent of the called party. This broad prohibition covers prerecorded voice and autodialed political calls, including those sent by nonprofit/political organizations. Callers contending that they have the prior express consent to make prerecorded voice or autodialed calls to cell phones or other mobile service numbers should know that they have the burden of proof to show that they obtained such consent.
Prerecorded Voice Messages and Autodialed Calls to Landline Telephones. Political prerecorded voice messages or autodialed calls -- whether live or prerecorded -- to most landline telephones are not prohibited, so long as they adhere to the identification requirements set forth immediately below. However, political prerecorded voice messages or autodialed calls to emergency telephone lines; lines in guest or patient rooms at a hospital, nursing home, or similar establishment; or toll-free lines are prohibited unless the called party has agreed to receive such calls.
Identification Requirements for Prerecorded Voice Messages. All prerecorded voice messages, political and otherwise, that are permissible under section 227 and the Commission's rules must include certain information to identify the party responsible for the message. In particular:
* All artificial and prerecorded voice messages must state clearly, at the beginning of the message, the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for initiating the call.
* If a business or other corporate entity is responsible for the call, the prerecorded voice message must contain that entity's official business name (the name registered with a state corporation commission or other regulatory authority).
* In addition, the telephone number of such business, individual, or other entity must be provided either during or after the prerecorded voice message.
Line Seizure by Prerecorded Voice Messages and Autodialed Calls. Automatic telephone dialing systems that deliver prerecorded voice messages must release the called party's telephone line within five seconds of the time that notification is transmitted to the system that the called party has hung up. In addition, an automatic telephone dialing system may not be used in a way that simultaneously engages two or more telephone lines of a multi-line business.
Senders of political prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls are also reminded that failure to comply with the relevant sections of the TCPA and corresponding rules may subject them to enforcement action, including monetary forfeitures as high as $16,000 per violation for any person who does not hold a license or other authorization issued by the Commission.
Need more information? For further information regarding requirements for prerecorded voice and autodialed calls, contact: Lloyd Collier at (202) 418-2712 or lloyd.collier@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:lloyd.collier@fcc.gov] or Mary Romano at (202) 418-0975. mary.romano@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:mary.romano@fcc.gov] in the Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau. More information can also be found at www.fcc.gov/guides/robocalls. To file a complaint, visit www.fcc.gov/complaints [HYPERLINK: http://www.fcc.gov/complaints] or call 1-888-CALL-FCC.
Media inquiries should be directed to Neil Grace at (202) 418-0506 or neil.grace@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:neil.grace@fcc.gov] or to Eric Bash at (202)
418-2057 or eric.bash@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:eric.bash@fcc.gov].
To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format),
send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). You may also contact the Enforcement Bureau on its TTY line at (202) 418-1148 for further information about this Enforcement Advisory, or the FCC on its TTY line at 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) for further information about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Attachments: (1) "At a Glance," Political Calls; (2) Frequently Asked Questions.
Issued by: Chief, Enforcement Bureau
ATTACHMENT 1
"AT A GLANCE"
POLITICAL CALLS
* Political calls are subject to restrictions governing prerecorded voice and autodialed calls.
* There are no restrictions on live manually-dialed political calls, which may be delivered to any landline telephone or cell phone.
* Political prerecorded voice and autodialed calls may NOT be delivered to the following types of landline phones without the prior express consent of the called party:
* any emergency line (including any 911 line and any emergency line of a hospital, medical physician or service office, health care facility, poison control center, or fire protection or law enforcement agency);
* the telephone line of any guest room or patient room of a hospital, health care facility, elderly home, or similar establishment; or
* any service for which the called party is charged for the call such as toll-free lines.
* Prerecorded voice and autodialed calls (including live calls, prerecorded voice messages, and text messages) may NOT be delivered to cell phones, pagers, or other mobile devices without the prior express consent of the called party. This restriction governs all prerecorded voice and autodialed calls, including political ones.
* All prerecorded voice messages -- including political messages -- must contain the following information:
* the name of the person or entity responsible for the call, which must be provided at the beginning of the message;
* the telephone number of the person or entity responsible for the call, which must be provided during or after the message.
* The National Do-Not-Call Registry and company-specific do-not-call lists do not apply to political calls.
* Individuals or entities who do not hold (and are not required to hold) FCC licenses responsible for unlawful political prerecorded voice messages or autodialed calls may face forfeiture penalties of up to $16,000 per violation. (The penalties are higher for FCC licensees, like broadcasters, cable operators, and common carriers.)
ATTACHMENT 2
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The following Frequently Asked Questions are addressed in this Enforcement Advisory:
* What are the rules covering political prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls, and where can I find them?
* What is an autodialed call?
* Are nonprofit organizations exempt from the prohibition against making political prerecorded voice or autodialed calls to cell phones and other mobile service numbers?
* What does it mean to make a prerecorded voice or autodialed call for "emergency purposes"?
* Does the same prohibition against making political autodialed calls to cell phones apply to sending political text messages to cell phones?
* Do the rules allow me to send political prerecorded voice messages to a landline telephone number that is registered on the National Do Not Call Registry?
* Before making a political prerecorded voice or autodialed call, how can I determine whether the target telephone number is associated with a landline phone or a wireless phone?
* What if I have questions?
What are the rules covering political prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls, and where can I find them?
These calls are subject to the general restrictions on prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls, found at 47 U.S.C. § 227 and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200.
What is an autodialed call?
An autodialed call is any type of call or message, including a text message, that is made by an "autodialer" or "automatic telephone dialing system," which is "equipment which has the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator and to dial such numbers." The Commission has emphasized that this definition covers any equipment -- including predictive dialers -- that has the specified capacity to dial numbers without human intervention whether or not the numbers called actually are randomly or sequentially generated or come from calling lists.
Are nonprofit organizations exempt from the prohibition against making political prerecorded voice or autodialed calls to cell phones and other mobile service numbers?
No. Although nonprofit organizations enjoy certain exemptions under the TCPA, there is NO blanket exemption that allows nonprofit organizations to make either prerecorded voice or autodialed calls to cell phones and other mobile service numbers.
What does it mean to make a prerecorded voice or autodialed call for "emergency purposes"?
Under Commission rules, "emergency purposes means calls made necessary in any situation affecting the health and safety of consumers." 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(4). Political prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls are NOT included in this definition.
Does the same prohibition against making political autodialed calls to cell phones apply to sending political text messages to cell phones?
Yes. The Commission has determined that the prohibition against placing autodialed calls to cell phones "encompasses both voice calls and text calls to wireless numbers including, for example, short message service (SMS) calls, provided the call is made to a telephone number assigned to [a wireless] service." Accordingly, only manually placed text messages are permissible.
Do the rules allow me to send political prerecorded voice messages to a landline telephone number that is registered on the National Do-Not-Call Registry?
Yes. Political prerecorded voice messages (as well as live political calls) are not subject to the National Do-Not-Call Registry because such messages (or live calls) do not include telephone solicitations.
Before making a political prerecorded voice or autodialed call, how can I determine whether the target telephone number is associated with a landline phone or a wireless phone?
There are a variety of commercial services that callers may use to identify wireless telephone numbers.
What if I have questions?
For further information regarding requirements for prerecorded voice and autodialed calls, contact one of the following individuals in the Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau: Lloyd Collier at (202) 418-2712 or lloyd.collier@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:lloyd.collier@fcc.gov] or to Mary Romano at (202) 418-0975 or mary.romano@fcc.gov. To file a complaint, visit www.fcc.gov/complaints [HYPERLINK: http://www.fcc.gov/complaints] or call 1-888-CALLFCC.
Media inquiries should be directed to Neil Grace at (202) 418-0506 or neil.grace@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:neil.grace@fcc.gov] or to Eric Bash at (202)
418-2057 or eric.bash@fcc.gov [HYPERLINK: mailto:eric.bash@fcc.gov].