The Federal Communications Commission has released its revisions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The biggest changes within the rules include implementation of a federal do-not-call list, restrictions on the use of predictive dialers and requirement of express consent before organizations may use outbound faxes. The rules were released to the Federal Register on Friday.
The document filed by the FCC does not reconcile differences between its mandates and those of the Federal Trade Commission, such as how call abandonment rates are calculated or predictive dialing requirements. Specifically, the rules don’t address the split between the FTC’s requirement that call center reps be available within two seconds of a completed greeting with the FCC’s rule that either a recorded message or a live operator come on the line.
The rules call for every state that has a do-not-call list to contribute its file to the federal registry, and establish an 18-month period for doing so, but they don’t address whether marketers should use both the individual state and federal lists during this transition period.
Regarding this, the FCC said only that “Although we do not preempt or require states to discontinue the use of their own databases at this time, once the national do-not-call list goes into effect, states may not, in their regulation of telephone solicitations, require the use of any database, list, or listing system that does not include part of [the national do-not-call registry] that relates to each state.”
Within the Friday ruling, the FCC noted and rejected several industry arguments that would have mitigated the effects of some of the rules, such as the common carrier industry’s observation that anyone using a telephone line should be considered as having an established business relationship with the telecommunications industry, as opposed to with a single carrier. The telecoms noted that much of their prospecting activity was done over the telephone to users of alternative services.
The FCC also rejected arguments that would have excluded home-based office telephone numbers, as well as wireless accounts, from its federal do-not-call registry. It also rejected requests to consider the impact restrictions on fax marketing would have on non-profit organizations that use faxes as a means to disseminate information to their members.
In rejecting most of the mitigating arguments made to it, the FCC cited the need for do-not-call requirements to be clear to consumers, and indicated that industry and situational exemptions would cause confusion and consternation.
There were a few small victories for marketers. The length of time a telephone number would be kept on the federal list was cut from ten to five years, reflecting turnover rates of telephone numbers among consumers. And the FCC was also a bit more liberal than the FTC in its safe harbor rules, which allow for marketers that make all reasonable efforts to follow the guidelines not to be unduly punished if they accidentally contact consumers on the do-not-call lists.
The FCC also allowed marketers to request free access to the federal do-not-call list for up to five area codes, allowing marketers that target specific local areas to scrub their lists without charge. Rates for access to the list are $29 per area code, with a maximum annual charge of $7,250.
The Direct Marketing Association will likely file a memorandum of understanding seeking to clarify some of the inconsistencies between the FTC and FCC rules, as well as a petition for relief of the fax marketing rules. The organization has not set a time frame for when these will be filed.
Network
