As the presidential campaign kicks into high gear with the start of the Republican convention this week, one published report goes to great lengths to detail how much the two campaigns may want to stay away from using the phone to try and contact donors and voters.
As anyone in the collection industry would be able to tell either campaign, a message can not be communicated via telephone, text message, or fax without the consent of the recipient.
“…campaigns may be better off avoiding automated calls or texts to mobile phones all together to avoid TCPA liability,” said Marc Roth, a TCPA compliance and class action defense partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in New York.
With political action groups, local, state, and federal candidates, and who knows who else looking to raise awareness and money during this election season, it can be next to impossible for an individual to figure out how he or she ended up on a calling list to receive automated texts or calls on a mobile phone. That uncertainty will only make it harder for defendants to fight suits filed by plaintiffs, especially those who file these kinds of suits for a living.
The Federal Communications Commission is unlikely to weigh in with a regulatory enforcement action, according to the report. The FCC is reluctant to step in and regulate what it deems to be an “ordinary case,” instead saving itself for serious violations of the TCPA, according to one attorney.
But calls from campaigns have become such a part of our daily life that most of us do not even complain or care anymore.
