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Paul Besozzi

I have practiced in the telecommunications regulatory field, including before the FCC and state regulatory agencies, for some 35 years. This has included advising clients on all manner of compliance, rulemaking, enforcement and legislative issues relating to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Junk Fax Act, particularly before the FCC which develops the regulations implementing those statutes. My efforts include reviewing clients' technology and TCPA compliance plans to determine whether they meet FCC requirements and advising on strategies for raising issues with the FCC.

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We recently published a blog about a slew of class action complaints alleging that marketing text messages cannot be sent between the hours of 9:00 pm and 8:00 am (“Quiet Hours”) unless the recipient provides prior express invitation or permission to receive such messages during Quiet Hours (“Quiet Hour Claims”). As noted, based on the plain language of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), we disagree with this argument because marketing text messages already require prior express written consent from the called party. The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance (EIA) and others filed a petition for declaratory ruling (“Petition”) with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to address this application of Quiet Hours to marketing messages.Continue Reading FCC Seeks Comment on Quiet Hours and Marketing Messages

Actual spam calls have become a pervasive annoyance. On the other hand, text messages delivering information about exclusive sales and discounts are surely not if you have signed up for such messages.  But what about if those coveted discount code text messages are received late at night or early in the morning? That’s the question being raised in a flurry of class action complaints filed by the same Florida-based law firm.  

Key Takeaways

While these claims are sorted out, we recommend that businesses who send marketing messages ensure that such marketing messages are sent between the hours of 8:00 am and 9:00 pm based on the call recipient’s location. How do you determine the call recipient’s location for cell phones? A defensible position is using the call recipient’s area code to determine the caller’s location, although this is not a fool-proof method as people travel to different time zones with their cell phones. However, using the area code to assess location gives the business a defensible position, for now, as the plaintiffs in these recent class actions claim that they live in the area associated with their telephone’s area code. That defense may still be subject to challenge, though. In the alternative, businesses could obtain prior express written consent to receive marketing messages throughout the day, although from the plain reading of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), this should not be required.Continue Reading New Class Action Threat: TCPA Quiet Hours and Marketing Messages

In December 2023, Privacy World reported on an order from the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) designed in part to close the “lead generator loophole” in the agency’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) consent rules. Now, just over a year later, on January 24, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (“11th Circuit” or “Court”) resoundingly rejected the FCC’s closure efforts, finding that the agency exceeded its statutory authority under the TCPA.Continue Reading Circuit Court Employs Loper Bright to Knock Out the FCC’s TCPA One-to-One Consent Rule

The Biden Administration has announced the rollout of the “cybersecurity label for interconnected devices, known as the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark.” The voluntary program, which will allow providers of certain such devices to label their products with the Mark, comes after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved final rules and implementing framework that will…

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) continues its regulatory focus on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the communications world, with the issuance of new proposed regulations designed to protect consumers from harmful AI-generated communications, targeting robocalls, automated texting, and political advertising.

The FCC has formally moved forward with a combined Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry (“NPRM/NOI”) “to protect consumers from the abuse of AI in robocalls alongside actions that clear the path for positive uses of AI, including its use to improve access to the telephone network for people with disabilities.”

The NPRM/NOI, released on August 8, 2024, seeks public comment on many of the major provisions that Squire Patton Boggs previously reported on in the draft proposal, albeit with some changes.  These include, for example:Continue Reading FCC Moves Forward with Proposed Rules for Use of Artificial Intelligence with Robocalls and Political Advertisements

Building on last year’s Notice of Inquiry, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) is poised to consider a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) at its August 7, 2024 Open Meeting that would further address the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”)-generated automated calls. Specifically, the FCC proposal would “define AI-generated calls and propose new rules that would require callers to disclose to consumers when they receive an AI-generated call.”  The background framework for the agency’s proposed actions is the consent and other relevant requirements of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”), which the FCC is responsible for implementing.

The Commission has previously declared that  AI technologies that generate human voices are covered by the TCPA. And it has already responded to potential harms with use of AI and automated calling.

In releasing the draft NPRM, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who has prioritized the issue of robocall regulation, commented that in light of those potential harms, “’[w]e want to put in place rules that empower consumers to avoid this junk and make informed decisions.” To that end, the NPRM would now seek comment on the following key proposed rules:Continue Reading FCC to Consider Formal Rules for Use of Artificial Intelligence and Robocalls

The Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Jessica Rosenworcel has proposed to her colleagues that the FCC investigate “whether the agency should require disclosure when there is AI-generated content in political ads on radio and TV.”   The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which is not yet public and still must be approved by a…

At its February 19, 2024 Open Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted an array of changes and codifications to its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) rules to “strengthen consumers’ ability to revoke consent” to receive robocalls and texts after deciding that they no longer want them. The agency’s Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Order) is designed to make consent revocation “simple and easy” and adopts requirements “for callers and texters to implement revocation requests in a timely manner.”Continue Reading FCC Clarifies and Codifies TCPA Consent Revocation Rules

Acting expeditiously in part in response to recent events, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) declared on February 8 that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s “restrictions on the use of ‘artificial or prerecorded voice’ encompass current [artificial intelligence (“AI”)] technologies that generate human voices.” Therefore, the FCC ruled “calls that use such technologies fall under the TCPA and the [FCC’s]…implementing rules and…require the prior express consent of the called party to initiate such callas absent an emergency purpose or exemption.” If telemarketing is involved, prior express written consent is required. However, contrary to other media reports, the FCC ruling neither bans use of AI, nor even requires consent to use AI to create content that is in text or that is subsequently converted into artificial voice. Rather, it merely equates AI-voice generation to other forms of artificial or prerecorded voice messages for TCPA consent purposes. Since prior express consent to use of artificial or prerecorded voice messages is what the TCPA requires, that is what the consent should cover. However, it is advised that the use of AI to generate such audio content should also be disclosed as part of the consent.Continue Reading FCC Rules Voice-Cloned Robocalls Are Covered by the TCPA as Artificial/Pre-Recorded

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”), at its Open Meeting on December 13, 2023, approved new rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) regarding texting that will impact many marketers. The rule changes adopted in the Second Report and Order (“Order”) are part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to combat “unwanted and illegal calls,” announcing a “comparatively new focus of combatting unwanted and illegal text messages.” The FCC finds that the “increase of unwanted and illegal texts … frustrate consumers, and scam texts can cause serious harm.”Continue Reading FCC Restricts Lead Gen and Makes Other Telemarketing Reforms