In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by narrowing what technology qualifies as an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (“ATDS”). Among other restrictions, the TCPA prohibits calls to phone numbers using an ATDS without prior express consent. The TCPA defines an ATDS as “equipment which
SCOTUS Decision in Unsolicited Fax Case Could Have Broader TCPA Implications
The U.S. Supreme Court’s grant this week of the petition for certiorari in a case involving the Telephone Communication Protection Act (TCPA) prohibition on unsolicited fax advertisements could have significant implications for the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) anticipated ruling on what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the TCPA.
The petitioner in PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic sent a fax in 2013 to a West Virginia chiropractor offering a free copy of the Physicians’ Desk Reference. The chiropractor declined the offer and sued PDR in West Virginia federal court, alleging that PDR had violated the TCPA by sending it an unsolicited fax advertisement. PDR moved to dismiss, arguing that the fax was not an “unsolicited advertisement” because it offered the desk reference for free rather than for purchase. The chiropractor disagreed, arguing that the fax was an “unsolicited advertisement” because a 2006 FCC rule interpreted the term to include “facsimile messages that promote goods or services even at no cost.”
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