TCPA Class Action Against CallFire Dismissed

On October 8, 2015, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California dismissed a putative class action complaint alleging that CallFire, Inc. ("CallFire") violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). CallFire offers an Internet-based platform through which customers may prepare a text message and send that message to a list of mobile phone numbers provided by the customer. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff received unsolicited text messages from The Sports Network, a co-defendant that remains in the action. The plaintiff argued that CallFire was hired by The Sports Network to send the allegedly unlawful text messages. However, CallFire moved to dismiss the complaint against it, arguing that CallFire is immune from liability under the TCPA because it is a common carrier and did not initiate the text messages at issue.