Sirius XM Seeks Automatic Telephone Dialing System Protections

Sirius XM, which is defending itself in multiple class-action lawsuits about how it calls customers, took its complaints on interpretation of the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act to the FCC, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 02-278. The meeting followed a filing last month in which Sirius laid out its objections to how the FCC has implemented the automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) sections of that law. The FCC is expected to clarify the definition of an ATDS later this year (see 1505210034). Such a clarification to include a preview dialer -- which presents information about a customer to an agent who then dials by manually using a mouse to click the number on a screen -- as an ATDS should include language protecting those who up until now have used preview dialers in compliance with FCC rules and the Consumer Protection Act, the satellite company said.