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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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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

The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has adopted rules to address two fraudulent practices that “bad actors use to take control of consumers’ cell phone accounts and wreak havoc on people’s financial and digital lives without ever gaining physical control of the consumer’s phone.”

In its recent Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released November 16, 2023, the Commission first addressed the practice where bad actors are able to swap a consumer’s subscriber identity module (“SIM”) card to a wireless device associated with a different SIM (i.e., SIM card swap fraud). The agency also acted on wireless number porting fraud, where bad actors impersonate a customer and convince the provider to port the real customer’s telephone number to a new wireless provider and a device that the bad actor controls (i.e., port-out fraud). Continue Reading FCC Acts to Protect Consumer Data by Strengthening Customer Proprietary Network Information and Number Porting Rules

In the last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken several steps to signal a more assertive and aggressive role for that agency on privacy, data protection and cybersecurity issues.

First, The FCC announced on June 14, 2023, the creation of a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force that will coordinate across the FCC on rulemaking, enforcement and other proceedings impacting privacy and data protection. Among the issues that the Task Force will focus on are data breaches by telecommunications providers and vulnerabilities involving third-party vendors servicing telecommunications providers. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted that the Task Force, which the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau will lead, will play a prominent role in the agency’s effort to modernize its data breach rules and new rules to crack down on SIM-swapping fraud.
Continue Reading FCC Initiatives on Data Privacy, Internet Network Security and Data Caps

Following up on its initial notice from last September, the Federal Communications Commission (the Commission) has released a draft Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address unwanted text messages that “invade consumer privacy and are vehicles for consumer fraud and identity theft.” The Commission will consider adopting the proposed rules at …

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has unanimously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise its requirements related to data breach reporting requirements applicable to telecommunications carriers and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol providers. The proposal seeks to “strengthen the Commission’s rules for notifying customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information (CPNI).” CPNI is data on the subscribers’ telephone usage as originally defined in Section 222 of the Communications Act. The Commission’s aim is “to better align its rules with recent developments in federal and state data breach laws covering other sectors.”
Continue Reading Federal Communications Commission Proposes Revisions to Data Breach Rules