Since its adoption, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) has periodically been attacked as unconstitutional on grounds that it violates the First Amendment right to free speech due to its content-based restrictions. Until today, those attacks have generally failed, leaving defendants with the threat of potentially crippling statutory damages. Today, the Fourth Circuit announced that part of the TCPA, an exemption for calls to collect government debts, is unconstitutional and will be stricken from the Act.
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Communications Practice Group
What to Expect at the FCC’s August 2017 Open Meeting
Below is Kelley Drye’s preview of the items under consideration at the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s or Commission’s) upcoming monthly Open Meeting, to be held on August 3, 2017. Consistent with the trend since he took over the Commission, Chairman Ajit Pai continues to schedule a large number of items. Indeed, for the seventh month in a row, the Commission has six or more items on its agenda. This month, the agenda consists of eight items and has several items taking concrete steps to resolve proceedings or important questions presented to the Commission. The areas covered skew heavily toward broadband deployment, with a CAF Phase II item, a Mobility Fund item and several spectrum items. In addition, the Commission again has enforcement items on the agenda: one (unidentified) item on the regular agenda and a one-item consent agenda involving an additional (unidentified) enforcement action.
The most significant agenda items are summarized below. Note: these brief summaries are based on draft items, which may differ from the final items released following the Open Meeting. Please check with Kelley Drye after the meeting for more information on the items below.