DC Circuit Strikes Down FCC Order Regarding TCPA

The D.C. Circuit on Friday issued its long-awaited decision reviewing the Federal Communications Commission's 2015 Omnibus Order construing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, striking down key provisions of the order that defined when dialing equipment is considered an autodialer under the statute. The D.C. Circuit also overturned the provisions of the FCC order that allowed calling parties only one safe harbor call to a telephone number that had been reassigned to a new owner.   

A broad coalition of businesses had appealed the FCC order seeking clarity regarding what constitutes an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the statute and specifically challenged the FCC's definition of ATDS which swept into the definition any phone that could be modified in the future to become an autodialer. The FCC's expansive definition had done little to stem the continued flood of class action lawsuits under the TCPA.