Proposed Injunction More Harmful Than TCPA Violations Were, Dish Says

Dish Network's stance that neither the Telephone Consumer Protection Act nor the Federal Tort Claims Act spells out injunctive relief that involves other than traditional, four-part equitable test standards is hardly radical, Dish said in a motion (in Pacer) for leave Wednesday. It asked to be able reply to the DOJ's and FTC's proposed responsive conclusions of law filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois, in advance of the second phase of the Dish robocall violations trial there (see 1701050045). The company said in its proposed reply that DOJ/FTC haven't contested its showing the injunction they seek would disproportionately harm the company, while harms caused by TCPA and Telemarketing Sales Rule violations "are not substantial." At most, "a modest civil penalty is warranted, because Dish's participation in the telemarketing violations was minimal" since the vast majority of the violations were by a handful of retailers, it said. The federal agencies didn't comment Thursday.