The battle over the Federal Communication Commission’s [FCC’s] One-to-One Consent Rule continued this week with four small business owners requesting an en banc hearing to reconsider the decision by a three-judge panel to vacate the rule.
The One-to-One Consent rule aims to reduce robocalls by not allowing a single consent to allow multiple entities — which number in the thousands — to contact a consumer. It also regulated the sale of consents. An en banc hearing is the consideration of a court decision reached by a small panel of judges to be heard by the full court.
The business owners, represented by Public Justice, National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and the National Consumers League (NCL), sought permission to intervene last month after the FCC’s new administration said that it paused implementation of the rule and said it was unlikely to defend it, according to a press release.
The intervening group claims that the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals failed to follow guidance the Supreme Court established in a case known as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.
The 11th circuit panel, according to Leah Nicholls, the director of the Access to Justice Project, should have considered the FCC’s statutory authority and judgment and experience in creating the rule. The Access to Justice Project is part of Public Justice.
“With the volume of unwanted telemarketing robocalls rising, the FCC’s One-to-One Consent Rule is an essential protection for all Americans,” NCLC senior attorney Margot Saunders said in the press release.
“The rule will help reduce the tens of billions of telemarketing robocalls that erode consumers’ trust in the U.S. telephone system. By addressing telemarketing calls, the rule would also allow telephone service providers to better identify and focus on blocking dangerous scam calls that rob consumers blind.”
The original One-to-One Consent case ruled upon by the 11th Circuit panel is Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC. The circuit covers parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
