FCC Got Balance Wrong With TCPA Clarification, Former Clyburn Aide Says

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a continuing cash cow for lawyers and the FCC has only added to the problem, Adonis Hoffman, chairman of Business in the Public Interest, said in a blog post on The Hill website. The FCC offered clarity on TCPA last year, but Hoffman, former chief of staff to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, said the agency got the balance wrong (see 1506160056). “The party-line vote signaled a deeper fissure between consumer protection and reasonable business practices at the FCC, with business on the short end of the compromise,” he wrote. The FCC’s ruling actually tightened the restrictions on companies, he said. TCPA’s status as a strict liability statute, in which companies can have to pay for even a single misstep “has found special favor with aggressive plaintiffs' attorneys who have exploited the loopholes to reap extraordinary financial gain,” Hoffman wrote. “To date, thousands of class action lawsuits have been filed against businesses because they either have called a consumer in error, or have called many customers using automatic dialing systems but failed to obtain the necessary consent required by the law. Often these communications are designed to alert us about fraud and identity theft; to confirm transactions; to remind us of appointments or due dates; to help avoid overdraft fees; or generally to facilitate better customer service or relations.”