On March 27, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission
("FCC") issued a Declaratory Ruling interpreting the
federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") as it
relates to prerecorded and autodialed calls to cellular phones.
That ruling, issued in the matter of
GroupMe, Inc./Skype Communications, provides useful
guidance on the confusing and potentially treacherous TCPA rules,
particularly as they relate to modern social-networking and
mobile-retail applications.
GroupMe provides a free group-texting service, which allows its
users to create groups of up to 50 members for community
text-messaging. GroupMe users must agree to GroupMe's terms of
service and affirmatively represent that each member added to a
group has consented to be added and to receive text messages.
GroupMe then sends text messages to those proposed members with
information about the group, how to download and use the GroupMe
app, and how to opt out and stop receiving messages. In
