ACA International wants the Federal Communications Commission to adjust its priorities and instead focus on dealing with “onerous” Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations before tackling its proposed database of reassigned phone numbers.
ACA International asserted its position in a comment filed with the FCC regarding a notice of proposed rulemaking which seeks to create a database of reassigned phone numbers that would be made available to companies, including those in the ARM industry, as a means of ensuring that those companies are contacting the proper individuals when dialing a phone number. The reassigned number database would tell those companies whether a phone number has been reassigned to someone else.
“While the proposed reassigned numbers database could be a helpful part of the solution, we feel that there are many outstanding issues with how the database will operate that need to be addressed before moving forward with it,” Leah Dempsey, ACA International’s vice president and senior counsel, federal advocacy. “Most importantly, the FCC needs to determine how using the database can provide much needed safe harbor from excessive TCPA related litigation and how it can operate efficiently without passing on problematic costs to small businesses.”
While admitting there are benefits to the reassigned number database, ACA International said that a safe harbor from TCPA-related litigation and re-defining what constitutes an automated telephone dialing system were bigger concerns.
“We remain unconvinced that a reassigned numbers database is the most pressing, or only, solution to solving the many problems associated with illegal robocallers and the lack of clarity surrounding TCPA compliance,” Dempsey said. “However, we do believe there could be benefits to using one centralized database if it is developed thoughtfully.”
