amicus Consumer Privacy EPIC Amicus Filing Gadelhak robocalls TCPA
EPIC, NCLC Urge Federal Appeals Court to Limit Robocalls
EPIC and the National Consumer Law Center have filed an amicus brief in a case concerning the scope of the federal law, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, that protects consumers against robocalls. In Gadelhak v. AT&T Services, EPIC and NCLC argued that list-based systems are included among the law's definition of "autodialers." To do otherwise, the brief explained, "would undermine the law's effectiveness by inviting easy circumvention and rendering the restriction obsolete." EPIC and NCLC further explained that the "mass texting from a list, such as the system used by AT&T in this case, is precisely the type of technology the TCPA sought to restrict." The amici warned that a narrow interpretation of the law "would accelerate the rising levels of robocalls and texts." EPIC routinely files amicus briefs on consumer privacy issues, including several amicus briefs on the TCPA.