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ARTICLE · 29 SEPTEMBER 2026

Important DNC List TCPA Ruling

Klein Moynihan Turco LLP
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A Florida federal court has challenged a longstanding assumption in TCPA litigation by ruling that cellular telephone subscribers may not qualify as "residential telephone subscribers" under the National Do-Not-Call list provisions. This decision potentially provides businesses with a powerful new defense against DNC List-based lawsuits, fundamentally questioning whether the FCC exceeded its authority when it presumed wireless subscribers on the DNC List to be residential subscribers.

United StatesConsumer Protection
David O. Klein
David O. Klein
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In the aftermath of two United States Supreme Court decisions, defendants faced with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) National Do-Not-Call list (“DNC List”) lawsuits have advanced several arguments previously foreclosed to them. Businesses defending TCPA lawsuits based on alleged DNC List violations now may have a powerful new defense. Below, we discuss a recent decision from a Florida federal court judge, the judge’s reasoning for her decision, and what this decision means for DNC List-related litigation.

The DNC List Decision Discussed

As our readers know, courts no longer are required to defer to the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) interpretations of the TCPA and instead, should independently analyze the statute itself in cases before them. After the FCC issued a Report and Order in 2003 stating that it “will presume wireless subscribers who ask to be put on the [DNC List] to be residential subscribers” (“2003 Order”), courts treated cellphone users as

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