Legal Guide to Call Center and Telemarketing Lead Generation Operations
By Kronenberger Rosenfeld, LLP
Various state and federal laws and regulations govern telemarketing. These telemarketing laws are complex, and a failure to comply with these telemarketing laws can quickly subject a legitimate business to expensive, “bet-the-company” class action lawsuits or FTC enforcement actions.
Written by the experienced telemarketing compliance and defense lawyers at Kronenberger Rosenfeld, The Legal Guide to Call Center and Telemarketing Lead Generation Operations is a valuable resource for any company that seeks to market their goods or services by phone calls or text messages. Whether you are placing telemarketing calls yourself or hiring another business to make those calls for you, the thorny network of telemarketing laws will affect your practices and success. As such, it is essential for you to understand the various telemarketing laws before you begin marketing or selling any goods or services by phone or text. And if you become involved in a telemarketing lawsuit, an understanding of these laws will serve as an important tool for your own decision-making on how to respond.
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The telemarketing lawyers at Kronenberger Rosenfeld, a firm that focuses solely on internet, telecommunications, and e-commerce legal matters, have released The Legal Guide to Call Center and Telemarketing Lead Generation Operations. This Legal Guide reflects over 15 years of experience serving as telemarketing compliance and defense attorneys, counseling clients on all aspects of telemarketing, from call center establishment to defending class action lawsuits. Written for businesses and attorneys who are not telemarketing practitioners, the guide is essential for understanding and complying with the complex set of statutes, regulations, and case law governing telemarketing.
Various laws and regulations govern telemarketing, most significantly, the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. §227 (“TCPA”) and the Rules to the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (“TCFPA”), 15 U.S.C. §87, and specifically the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. §310 (“TSR”). Additionally, many states have adopted their own telemarketing laws, which may impose additional restrictions on telemarketing. In order to avoid exposure to lawsuits, civil penalties, and possibly even criminal charges, a telemarketer must familiarize themselves with these laws.
The first section of the Legal Guide, titled What Is TCPA focuses on the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. This section explains the requirements for all outgoing calls and texts, including calls and texts made using automatic telephone dialing systems (“ATDS”) and artificial or prerecorded messages. The Legal Guide explores the trends in defining an ATDS and a prerecorded message. The Legal Guide also explains the risks in not complying with the TCPA.
The second section of the Legal Guide, titled Overview of Telemarketing and the TSR, explains the complex set of regulations that govern phone calls that advertise goods or services, including solicitation of charitable donations. This section explains what types of businesses are governed by the TSR, what disclosures those businesses must make during telemarketing calls, and how a business can obtain payment information and complete consumer sales during a telemarketing call. The Legal Guide also explains the risks in not complying with the TSR.
The third section of the Legal guide, titled Do Not Call Registry, describes the national Do Not Call Registry and how businesses are required to purchase and use the Do Not Call Registry. This section also describes the requirements for businesses to create and maintain entity-specific do not all registries. The Legal Guide also explains the risks of not complying with these national and entity-specific do not call registry requirements.
The fourth section of the Legal guide, titled Abusive and Fraudulent Telemarketing Practices, describes the practices that a business is prohibited from doing as part of any telemarketing call.
The final section of the Legal Guide, titled State Telemarketing Laws, explains how states have adopted their own telemarketing laws, which govern telemarketers in parallel with the TCPA and TSR. The Legal Guide summarizes these state law requirements, including registration and bonding requirements.
Whether you are dealing with telemarketing compliance or defending a telemarketing lawsuit, knowledge of the relevant telemarketing laws is essential to your success. The Legal Guide to Call Center and Telemarketing Lead Generation Operations will be a valuable resource to understanding these laws.