Home Research Resources Primary sources
Research Resources Our research guides point you to the official text of the law and help you find your way around it. They are meant for researchers, journalists, lawyers and anyone else who wants to work from the primary sources instead of relying on a summary.
Research guides
FCC & rulemaking
A directory of official sources.
Research resource 2 min read
↗ FCC & rulemaking
A guide to 47 U.S.C. § 227, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) as codified in the U.S. Code.
Research resource 3 min read
↗ FCC & rulemaking
A guide to the main TCPA regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Research resource 4 min read
↗ FCC & rulemaking
How to track FCC dockets, orders and proposals.
Research resource 3 min read
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Why primary sources matter
Summaries can become outdated, and small differences in wording can matter. When an official source and a summary differ, the official source controls. We link to government and court websites wherever we can.
Related pages
Case law for summaries of leading court decisions, with links to the opinions.Glossary for definitions of common terms.TCPA guides for plain-English explanations of the rules.
Sources
Disclaimer This page is general information, not legal advice. TCPA.com publishes educational content about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Telemarketing Sales Rule, and related state laws. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Nothing here tells you how the law applies to your own facts.
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The law changes. TCPA rules change through new statutes, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) orders, and court decisions, and courts in different parts of the country can read the same rule differently. State laws vary widely. We checked the sources cited on this page, but the law may have changed since then, and this page may not reflect the most recent developments in your jurisdiction.
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