FCC Denies Petition To Change Its Rules So That It Could Preside Over Class Actions

The FCC recently denied a petition that had asked it to amend its rules so that it could preside over class actions. Although the Petition did not mention the TCPA, it would not have taken long for plaintiffs to create a new front of TCPA litigation had the Petition had been granted.

The Petition was filed by Solvable Frustrations, Inc. ("SFI"), which had billed itself as "An Interactive Resource for Monetary Recourse," specifically a social network that "aggregates customer complaints" in order to "require wayward corporations ... to fix the damage they caused." The Petition argued that the FCC should supplement its rules to allow class actions because class actions "provide a number of benefits" that existing rules do not, for example allowing class members to seek redress for minor injuries by sharing costs and conserving resources.