The legal documents filed in federal court in California seek information from the providers as part of ongoing investigations of potentially illegal robocalls.
02/14/2022 3:15 P.M.
3 minute read
Federal courts in California have ordered two Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers to turn over information that the Federal Trade Commission is seeking as part of ongoing investigations of potentially illegal robocalls, according to a news release from the FTC.
“Companies that receive FTC Civil Investigative Demands must promptly produce all required information,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “These demands are not voluntary. Companies that don’t respond fully or don’t respond at all will have to answer to a federal district court judge, as these cases demonstrate.”
The FTC regularly issues Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) to VoIP service providers that carry potentially illegal calls to collect important information to help stop the calls, including information about the company’s customers and efforts to comply with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, according to the news release.
The FTC reports:
The first order announced Feb. 14 “requires VoIP service provider XCast Labs Inc. (XCast), headquarted in Los Angeles, California, to comply with a CID issued as part of an FTC investigation into a series of illegal robocalls. Although the CID directed XCast to produce selected information and documents by the end of February 2021, the company produced only a small fraction of the required information, even after receiving an extension of the response deadline from commission staff,” according to the news release. “When further efforts to work cooperatively with XCast proved unsuccessful, the [c]ommission filed a petition in federal court seeking to compel compliance with the CID.
“In response to that petition, a U.S. magistrate judge issued a report in December 2021 concluding ‘that the FTC is entitled to enforcement of the remainder of the CID,’ and recommending that the district judge enter an order requiring XCast to comply. The district judge accepted that recommendation in January and issued an order compelling XCast’s compliance with the CID.”
The second order announced Feb. 14 requires VoIP service provider Deltracon Inc., located in Irvine, California, to provide information required under another FTC CID issued in January 2021.
When Deltracon did not respond to that CID, the FTC went to federal court to enforce compliance, “explaining that neither the company nor its principals had responded to the CID, which ‘materially impeded the FTC’s investigation,’” according to the news release.
The court granted the FTC’s petition, and Deltracon subsequently provided all the required information.
FCC Ringless Voicemail Ruling
Meanwhile, at the Federal Communications Commission, the agency is focused on a pending declaratory ruling and order on ringless voicemails. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel proposed the declaratory ruling and order that, if adopted, would require callers to obtain consent before using ringless voicemail technology to contact consumers, ACA International previously reported.
According to a press release from the FCC, Rosenworcel’s proposed order would deny a 2017 Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by All About the Message (AATM). AATM’s petition requested the FCC to declare that ringless voicemail technology does not constitute a “call” subject to the TCPA. AATM argued that ringless voicemail is not subject to the TCPA because: (1) voice messages are delivered to consumers without making a call, and (2) consumers are not charged for these communications. Ultimately, however, AATM withdrew its petition a few months after filing.
The FCC will hold its February open commission meeting Friday, where it may discuss the declaratory ruling and order.
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