D.C. Circuit Invalidates Portion Of FCC's 2015 Declaratory Ruling & Order Implementing The TCPA

On March 16, 2018, the D.C. Circuit issued its long-awaited ruling in ACA International, et al. v. FCC, et al., No. 15-1211, resolving a series of challenges to the July 10 2015 Declaratory Ruling & Order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), In the Matter of Rules & Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, Declaratory Ruling & Order, 30 FCC Rcd. 7961 (2015) (Order).

Petitioners challenged various aspects of the Order under the Administrative Procedure Act as "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law." 5 U.S.C. § 706(2). The court agreed that the Order's "effort to clarify the types of calling equipment that fall within the TCPA's restrictions" and "approach to calls made to a phone number previously assigned to a person who had given consent but since reassigned to another (nonconsenting) person" are arbitrary and