Opinion ID: 783768
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

Text: 21 In the TCPA, Congress found that unrestricted telemarketing can be an intrusive invasion of privacy and that many consumers are outraged by the proliferation of intrusive calls to their homes from telemarketers. Pub.L. 102-243 at § 2 (Dec. 20, 1991). Therefore, Congress in the TCPA authorized the FCC to establish a national database of residential subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations. Id. at § 3. A telephone solicitation was defined as a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, excluding, inter alia, calls from a tax exempt nonprofit organization. Id. This definition excluded charitable telemarketers. 22 According to the legislative history accompanying the TCPA, the record suggests that most unwanted telephone solicitations are commercial in nature. Complaint statistics show that unwanted commercial calls are a far bigger problem than unsolicited calls from political or charitable organizations. H.R.Rep. No. 102-317, at 16 (1991). The House Report cited statistical data from several states reporting that consumer complaints were directed mostly at commercial sales calls. Id. Moreover, the Committee found that non-commercial calls were less intrusive to consumers because they are more expected and because there is a lower volume of non-commercial calls. Id. It concluded that the two main sources of consumer problems — high volume of solicitations and unexpected solicitations — are not present in solicitations by nonprofit organizations.... It is on this basis that the Committee believes that the scope of the regulation is a workable `commercial speech' distinction consistent with Supreme Court precedent. Id. at 16-17. This distinction between commercial and non-commercial telemarketing, justified in the TCPA, persists in all subsequent legislation and administrative rules regulating telemarketing calls.