Telecommunications and Marketing Flashcards
1-3 questions
Who issued the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)?
issued by the FTC to implement the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act
Define:
telemarketing
under TSR
a plan, program, or campaign which is conducted to induce the purchase of goods or services or a charitable contribution, by use of one or more telephones and which involves more than one interstate call
What does the TSR require covered organizations to do?
- call only between 8 am - 9 pm
- screen and scrub names against the national Do Not Call list
- display caller ID info
- identify themselves and what they are selling
- disclose all material information and terms and provide accurate and complete info
- comply with special rules for prizes and promotions
- maintain internal suppression lists to respect requests to call back
- maintain substantial records for 2 years from date produced
At the beginning of a call, what must a telemarketer disclose?
under TSR
- identity of seller
- purpose of call is to sell goods or services
- nature of those goods or services
- in case of prize promotion, that no purchase or payment is necessary to participate or win, and that a purchase/payment doesn’t increase the chances of winning
Who has to comply with the TSR?
telemarketers AND sellers
What must be disclosed during a call?
under TSR
ten broad categories of info must always be disclosed:
1. cost and quantity
2. material restrictions, limitations or conditions
3. performance, efficacy or central characteristics
4. refund, repurchase or cancellation policies
5. material aspects of prize promotions
6. material aspect of investment opportunities
7. affiliations, endorsements or sponsorships
8. credit card loss protection
9. negative option features
10. debt relief services
Define:
What does the TSR prohibit?
- unauthorized billing: billing consumers for any goods or services without the consumer’s express, informed consent
- abandoning an outbound telephone call
- calling entities on the DNC Registry (with certain exceptions)
What is an abandoned call?
under TSR
abandoning an outbound telephone call with “hang-ups” or “dead air” where abandoned: if a person answers it and telemarketer does not connect the call to a live sales representative within two seconds of the person’s completed greeting
- must be live person (no pre-recorded message)
Define:
abandoned call safe harbor
under TSR
telemarketer won’t face enforcement action for violating if telemarketer:
- uses technology that ensures abandonment of no more than 3% of all calls answered by a live person, measured per day per calling campaign
- allows telephone to ring for 15 seconds or four rings before disconnecting an unanswered call
- plays a recorded message stating the name and telephone # of seller on whose behalf the call was placed whenever a live sales rep is unavailable within two seconds of a live person answering the call
- maintains records documenting adherence to these three reqs
How can a telemarketer obtain express, informed consent or verifiable authorization for billing?
generally, telemarketer must identify account with enough specificity for the consumer to understand which account will be charged and obtain the consumer’s express agreement to be charged using that account number
What is the record requirement under the TSR?
sellers and telemarketers must maintain following records for 2 years from date produced:
- advertising and promotional materials
- info about prize recipients
- sales records
- employee records
- all verifiable authorizations or records of express informed consent or express agreement
Who can the TSR be enforced by?
enforced by FTC and state AGs
What penalties can be brought under TSR?
violations currently punishable by civil penalties of up to $50,120 per call
Does the TSR provide a private right of action?
- limited private right of action against telemarketers as an individual that must meet threshold of $50k in actual damages to be able to file suit
- to bring class action, must show actual harm
Define:
Do Not Call Registry and its requirements
under TSR
program allows U.S. residents to register residential and wireless phone number they do not wish to be called for telemarketing purposes
- sellers and telemarketers must access the registry prior to making any phone-based solicitations
- must update call lists every 31 days with new registry information
- only sellers, telemarketers and service providers may access the registry
Who does the DNC not apply to?
- nonprofits calling on their own behalf
- calls to customers with established business relationship
- inbound calls, provided no “upsell” of additional products or services
- most business-to-business calls
Define:
established business relationship exemption
under TSR
sellers/telemarketers may call a consumer with whom a seller has an established business relationship provided the consumer hasn’t asked to be on the seller’s entity-specific DNC list
- EBR exists with a customer if customer has purchased, rented or leased the seller’s goods or services (or completed a financial transaction with seller) within 18 months preceding a telemarketing call
- EBR exists with a prospect if the consumer has made an application or inquiry regarding the seller’s goods and services within 3 months preceding a call
How can a seller/telemarketer get a customer’s consent to make calls?
under TSR
- consent must be in writing, state the numbers to which the call may be made, and include consumer’s signature
- request for consent must be clear and conspicuous
- must be opt-in
DNC Safe harbor
under TSR
seller/telemarketer won’t be held liable for erroneously calling a consumer who has asked not to be called or is on the National DNC Registry if seller/telemarketer can establish that as part of its routine business practice, it meets the following requirements:
- has established and written procedures to honor consumers’ requests that they not be called
- has trained its personnel in these procedures
- has maintain and recorded and entity-specific DNC list
- uses and maintains records documenting, a process to prevent calls to any telephone # on an entity-specific DNC list or National DNC Registry
- monitors and enforces compliance with entity’s written DNC procedure
Define:
What does the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) cover and who is it enforced by?
- restrictions on unsolicited advertising by telephone or facsimile, robocalls or robotexts
- enforced by FCC
Define:
robocallers and auto-dialers
under TCPA
- robocalls: prerecorded calls
- autodialers: automatic telephone dialing systems (does not include text message campaigns)