FCC Ruling Undercuts Text Message Lawsuits

In a win for marketers, federal regulators ruled that companies are allowed to send a text message to confirm a consumer's request to opt out of receiving more text messages.

The Blog of Legal Times (BLT) reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that companies can send a one-time opt out message as long as the company obtained a prior expressed consent to send the consumer text messages. The FCC said that in such circumstances a text message does not violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.

The ruling is seen as likely to put a stop to a new category of class actions involving text message lawsuits, writes BLT. Several banks and retailing companies currently face similar class actions.

The ruling was prompted by a petition from Soundbite, a communications company that sends text messages on behalf of about 400 companies, including banks, utilities and retailers. In its petition, Soundbite complained that the text message lawsuits expose companies that lawfully use mobile marketing strategies to sustain and grow their businesses to millions of dollars of potential liability, according to the BLT.

The company argued that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which forbids companies to spam consumers' cell phones with telemarketing calls without prior consent, does not apply to a text acknowledging an opt-out request.

If you or a loved one has been wronged by consumer fraud, contact Sokolove Law today for a free legal consultation and to find out if a consumer fraud lawyer may be able to help you.

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