Wyden urges FCC to reject weaker telemarketing rules

The Federal Communications Commission is currently considering weakening Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules that prevent most autodialing calls to land lines and mobile phones.

The TCPA was passed 20 years ago to protect consumers from unsolicited and intrusive telephone calls from telemarketers while families were eating meals together or parents were helping children with homework.

Specifically, the commission is assessing whether the FCC should provide exemptions from liability when auto-dialers are used to make three calls to a person who has not provided consent.

The FCC is also evaluating whether to allow industries to send unsolicited texts or calls without consent in certain circumstances.

On Thursday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and nine fellow Senate Democrats joined in a letter calling on the FCC to reject these proposals to weaken the law.

“These proposals would threaten privacy and result in an increase in disruptive and annoying calls for American consumers,” the senators wrote in the letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “We strongly urge the FCC to maintain the TCPA’s privacy protections and to continue to protect consumers from unwanted calls.”

Wyden has long been a champion of privacy and consumer rights, his office said.

After a federal court ruled in 2003 that the Federal Trade Commission lacked the authority to establish a national Do Not Call Registry, Wyden cosponsored legislation granting the FTC authority to implement and enforce the national Do Not Call Registry. This bill passed the House and Senate on Sept. 25, 2003 and was signed into law by the president.

Signatories on Thursday’s letter to the FCC include Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.).