smartphone lawOn January 22, 2017, serial Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act plaintiffs, Craig Moskowitz and Craig Cunningham, filed a petition for rulemaking and declaratory rulings before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requesting that the FCC issue a rule that, if passed, would eliminate the “prior express consent” standard for non-solicitation calls to cell phones using an autodialer or pre-recorded message. Instead, the proposed rule would require the same standard that solicitation calls require, that is, “prior express written consent.” The new rule may have a crippling effect to businesses relying on the current rule, such as debt collectors. The FCC has issued a public notice seeking comments by March 10, 2017.