The volume of TCPA cases nationwide makes it incredibly difficult to keep up with all of the latest developments. Who wants to engage in the tedious task of reading more than 100 published decisions related to the TCPA several times a year? Lucky for you, the answer is us! We have once again taken on the burden of slogging through the swampy flood of TCPA cases nationwide, so you don’t have to. We have compiled the most noteworthy decisions since our last report, and they are listed below by issue category in alphabetical order.
Continue Reading TCPA Case Law Review (Vol. 9): How are there still this many TCPA cases?
ACA v. FCC Close to a Slam Dunk for TCPA Defendants
Overview of the Ruling
On March 16, 2018, just before tip-off in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the D.C. Circuit provided the TCPA defense bar with a new playbook of sorts, in the form of a decision that will surely change the game for TCPA litigation. The case, of course, is ACA International v. FCC, and the ruling came down nearly 18 months after oral arguments. ACA Int’l et al. v. FCC, No. 15-1211, Doc. No. 1722606 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 16, 2018). It appears to be worth the wait as the D.C. Circuit slam dunked the former definition of automated telephone dialing equipment (“ATDS”) and the “one-call safe harbor” rule for reassigned numbers.Continue Reading ACA v. FCC Close to a Slam Dunk for TCPA Defendants
TCPA Case Law Update
Every month or so, we review all Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227, et seq. (“TCPA”), decisions across the country to stay abreast of developments as we defend these cases throughout the United States. In this inaugural issue of the TCPA Case Law Update by Vedder Price, we offer summaries of some of the defense-friendly decisions entered in the past month and a half. The decisions are listed by issue category in alphabetical order. We plan to post similar summaries on a roughly monthly basis going forward. We hope you find this information useful as you ward off these pesky but nevertheless risky claims.
Continue Reading TCPA Case Law Update
Biometric Data Claims against Google Survive – But What about Personal Jurisdiction?
The following March 3 blog post inspired the Law360 article, “Challenging Personal Jurisdiction In Online Conduct Cases,” published on March 24, 2017. See full article below.
Earlier this week, Judge Edmond Chang of the Northern District of Illinois rejected Google’s arguments that application of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) to facial geometry scanning by Google Photos is, on its face, an improper extraterritorial application of Illinois law. See Rivera v. Google, Inc., Case No. 16-cv-22714, Docket Entry 60. Faced with Google’s arguments that the claims would require extraterritorial application of the statute and/or would violate the Dormant Commerce Clause by reaching beyond state boundaries, the court essentially punted, saying that “[d]iscovery is needed to determine whether there are legitimate extraterritoriality concerns.” Id. at p. 22. The court also rejected Google’s argument that BIPA does not cover facial geometry scans pulled from photographs.
Continue Reading Biometric Data Claims against Google Survive – But What about Personal Jurisdiction?
Facebook Not Subject to Specific Personal Jurisdiction in Illinois
In a well-reasoned and encouraging decision to Internet businesses, the Northern District of Illinois recently found that even operating one of the largest, most popular websites in the world is not enough to create personal jurisdiction everywhere the site can be accessed. See Gullen v. Facebook, Inc., Case No. 15-cv-07681 (Jan. 21, 2016