Topic 04
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) puts its tightest limits on calls made with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice. Those calls need consent, and marketing calls of that kind need written consent under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules.
The statute defines an autodialer by its capacity to store or produce numbers "using a random or sequential number generator" and to dial them. In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021), the Supreme Court held that equipment must have that random or sequential capacity. Most systems that dial from a stored customer list do not qualify.
That narrowed federal autodialer claims. It did not end them. Several states, including Florida, Oklahoma, and Maryland, have broader definitions that encompass automated systems for choosing or dialing numbers.
The rules relating to prerecorded voices apply regardless of how the call is dialed.
Do not rely on the Duguid test alone. Check the prerecorded-voice rules, the AI rules, and state definitions. The articles in this section track every change.
The maintained guide
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) puts its strictest limits on two kinds of technology: automatic telephone dialing systems and artificial or prerecorded voices.
Case analysis · Consent & revocation
Most courts agree you can revoke your consent to robocalls whenever you want. But what if that consent was part of a contract?
Regulatory update · FCC & rulemaking
On November 18, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed a $9,997,750 fine on Kenneth Moser and his San Diego-based company, Marketing Support Systems.
Analysis · Litigation & decisions
If you've been in this industry a while, you've heard the name Aaron Michael Jones.
Analysis · Autodialers & artificial voice
Here's a robocall script you've probably heard in some form before.
Analysis · Autodialers & artificial voice
I don't know about you, but I've been getting calls meant for somebody else for years. Some guy named Kevin apparently owes everybody money.
Regulatory update · FCC & rulemaking
Here's one from the fall of 2022 that shows how fast the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can shut a door.
Regulatory update · FCC & rulemaking
Here's the thing about cease-and-desist letters from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They're short. They're polite.
Analysis · Autodialers & artificial voice
Here's the thing about a robocall campaign. It's never one company.
Analysis · State telemarketing laws
On July 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and law enforcement partners nationwide, including the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, announced "Operation Stop Scam Calls," a joint crackdown on illegal robocalls.
Analysis · FCC & rulemaking
Members of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, launched the second phase of "Operation Robocall Roundup" on December 3, 2025.
Regulatory update · FCC & rulemaking
The bottom line: on December 2, 2025, the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sent SK Teleco LLC of Missoula, Montana, a notice of suspected illegal traffic.
Regulatory update · Autodialers & artificial voice
On May 10, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Forfeiture Order imposing a $120,000,000 penalty on Adrian Abramovich, personally and doing business as Marketing Strategy Leaders, Inc. and Marketing Leaders, Inc. The FCC found that he made 96,758,223 illegal spoofed robocalls during a three-month period in 2016.
Supreme Court · 2021
The Supreme Court significantly narrowed the definition of what constitutes an "automatic telephone dialing system," or autodialer, under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
D.C. Circuit · 2018
The D.C. Circuit reviewed a 2015 order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
