InfoBytes Blog
Court holds text message advertisements sent by internet domain provider do not violate TCPA
On May 14, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona granted an internet domain provider’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the platform used by the company to send text message advertisements did not qualify as an “autodialer” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The plaintiff filed a putative class action in 2016 asserting that the company, without his consent, sent him a single text message offering a discount on new products in violation of the TCPA. The company filed for summary judgment arguing that the platform it uses to send messages is not an “autodialer.” Citing to the recent D.C. Circuit decision in ACA International v. the FCC (covered by a Buckley Sandler Special Alert) which narrowed the FCC’s 2015 interpretation of “autodialer”, the Court agreed with the company. The Court held that the text was not sent automatically or without human intervention because the company had to “log into the system, create a message, schedule a time to send it, and perhaps most importantly, enter a code to authorize its ultimate transmission.”
As covered by InfoBytes, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau released a notice seeking comment on the interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in light of the recent D.C. Circuit decision in ACA International.