Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to “ban the practice of obtaining a single consumer consent as grounds for delivering calls and text messages from multiple marketers on subjects beyond the scope of the original consent.”

According to the FCC, the proposed rule’s intent is to prevent lead generators from obtaining consent to receive calls and texts from multiple “partner companies” identified through a hyperlink rather than on the same page where consent is obtained. Implementing this rule could drastically change the way lead generators obtain consent for marketing calls and texts under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Continue Reading FCC Proposes Rule to “Close the Lead Generator Loophole,” with Business-Changing Ramifications

Venable hosted another jam-packed session on the regulatory and litigation risks facing the lead generation industry today, and strategies for mitigating them. In the webinar, Daniel Blynn, Alexandra Megaris, and Jonathan Pompan covered federal and state law enforcement priorities; TCPA, legislative, licensing, and regulatory developments; and more.

Key takeaways:

  • Dive into federal and

Venable attorney Jonathan Pompan joined LeadsCon’s Warren Pickett on the LeadsCon Industry Insider podcast episode, “Lead Generation Compliance and Regulation in Today’s World. Who’s Minding the Store?” to discuss current lead generation advertising compliance issues. With government, the private sector, and the daily news cycle engulfed by all things related to COVID-19, speakers discussed amongst

no phone scamsCriminal charges against six individuals allegedly involved in a telemarketing scheme targeting elderly people were brought today by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. According to the Complaint, the defendants contacted elderly consumers with business opportunities requiring nothing more than a simple cash investment. The consumers were promised that they would see large returns on that investment without them needing to do anything other than the initial investment. After making the investment, the consumers would then receive additional telemarketing calls offering other services such as coaching, business development, and tax preparation services. The Complaint alleges that none of the consumers received what they were promised.
Continue Reading Criminal Charges Brought Against Telemarketers

When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigates a case, it looks at it from the first contact the consumer has with a product or service through the end of the consumer experience. For many consumers, the first contact with a product comes through lead generation, where a “lead generator” tries to find consumers interested in a particular type of good or service and then sell those leads to marketers. The FTC released its staff perspective paper on lead generation in September. Demonstrating that the FTC’s interest in lead generation is not just academic, the FTC recently asked the Department of Justice to file a complaint on the FTC’s behalf against a collection of entities known as the Consumer Education Group, charging them with violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The complaint alleged that the Defendants made illegal outbound telemarketing calls — some using robocalls delivering prerecorded messages — to consumers on the national Do Not Call (DNC) Registry without consumers’ express written consent or a preexisting business relationship.
Continue Reading FTC Complaint Confirms Interest in Lead Generation