WEBVTT
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00:00:02.879Welcome to Compliance Pointers, where we take
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00:00:05.839an in -depth look into the latest news, trends,
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00:00:08.439and challenges surrounding information security,
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00:00:12.320privacy, and marketing compliance. Let's dive
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00:00:16.079in with your host, Jordan Eisner. All right.
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00:00:19.179Hello, and welcome to another episode of Compliance
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00:00:22.140Pointers and another guest appearance by our
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00:00:24.760very own Tony Jarnigan. Hey, Tony. Good to have
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00:00:26.920you. Thank you very much, Jordan. It's been a
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00:00:31.320while. Yeah. And this podcast will be released
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00:00:36.020in the future, but as of this very moment, March
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00:00:38.840Madness has continued today. It's Friday, and
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00:00:41.880Santa Clara and Kentucky are in a battle. It
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00:00:43.560looks like Kentucky is going to pull out, but
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00:00:49.960we will do our best to stay focused here on this
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00:00:52.960podcast. I don't have any scores or anything
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00:00:58.399up. We're here to learn about the... the details
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00:01:02.060on the bradford verse sovereign pest control
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00:01:05.079of texas case which apparently is creating a
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00:01:08.099little bit of buzz in the uh the telemarketing
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00:01:12.560compliance space so um for those of you who don't
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00:01:16.060know or maybe need to refresh compliance pointers
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00:01:19.280is the podcast of compliance point that's the
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00:01:22.200company that tony and i both work for i am the
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00:01:24.920vp of growth at compliance point tony are you
00:01:27.070 -->
00:01:30.530Consultant? Is that the official title? Consultant.
00:01:31.290 -->
00:01:33.930Consultant. There you go. I've been looking for
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00:01:36.189ways to see if we can embellish that somewhat,
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00:01:39.969but as of now, it's still consultant. Consultant
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00:01:43.530extraordinaire. Thank you. There you go. CE for
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00:01:46.030short. As mentioned, we're going to get into
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00:01:48.049the Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control of Texas
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00:01:53.069case today with Tony here. So let's dive right
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00:01:57.819in. Give us the details on that case, Tony. Yeah,
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00:02:02.299well, it's an interesting case to be sure. But,
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00:02:04.140you know, just to give you a little bit of background,
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00:02:08.460I'm assuming four or five years ago, the plaintiff
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00:02:11.240entered into a service plan agreement with Sovereign
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00:02:15.180Pest Control and provided his cell phone number
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00:02:18.780so that the company could continue to contact
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00:02:23.129him. And then each year for about four years,
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00:02:26.770the Sovereign Pest Control used prerecorded messages
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00:02:30.409to remind him to schedule his annual renewal
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00:02:35.469inspections. And then the guy actually ends up
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00:02:41.330being a serial litigant. And so four years into
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00:02:45.090this, he, I guess, learns about this and says,
00:02:45.129 -->
00:02:47.129you know what? Four years ago, they never got
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00:02:50.159my express written consent. which is what is
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00:02:53.819needed to deliver prerecorded messages to my
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00:02:59.560cell phone. And so he brought a suit and the
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00:03:05.319fifth, the the trial court held that these were
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00:03:10.360only informational texts. They weren't solicitous.
00:03:11.159 -->
00:03:14.520And so this ends up being, you know, sort of
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00:03:20.629an a result of a ruling from the FCC in 2012,
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00:03:26.669I believe, where they said that you have to have
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00:03:30.069express written consent to deliver a pre -recorded
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00:03:31.969message or artificial voice, or if you're using
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00:03:35.930an ATDS to a cell phone for telemarketing calls.
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00:03:40.849But you only need express consent for informational
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00:03:44.569calls. And the difference there is that if I'm...
00:03:44.860 -->
00:03:46.800I can give you my phone number during the normal
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00:03:50.280course of business and with no consent language
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00:03:52.539or checking a box or signing anything. And that's
00:03:52.539 -->
00:03:55.080considered express consent. However, express
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00:03:57.460written consent means that I have to sign or
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00:04:01.159digitally sign or check a box or that sort of
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00:04:05.139thing. So this is, you know, Right. Right. Exactly.
00:04:05.240 -->
00:04:06.680Certain disclosures. So he says, you know, they
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00:04:08.479didn't have my express written consent. So I'm
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00:04:10.099going to sue. And like I said, the trial court
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00:04:12.699said, well, actually, we wouldn't consider these
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00:04:14.900to be solicitous messages. They're only informational.
00:04:16.480 -->
00:04:19.740So he appealed. And then on appeal, the Fifth
00:04:19.740 -->
00:04:23.639Circuit Court of Appeals held that the TCP only
00:04:23.639 -->
00:04:27.540requires prior express consent, not prior express
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00:04:31.329written consent, even for telemarketing. pre
00:04:31.329 -->
00:04:35.569-recorded calls to wireless numbers. And so this
00:04:35.569 -->
00:04:37.889ends up being another challenge to the FCC ruling,
00:04:38.110 -->
00:04:44.170right, from 2012, or another challenge to FCC's
00:04:44.170 -->
00:04:48.050positions and interpretations, and said that,
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00:04:50.550you know, we don't, you know, this is all, I
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00:04:51.870don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves
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00:04:54.129here, but this is all a result of, you know,
00:04:54.129 -->
00:04:57.170those two important cases from 2024 and 2025,
00:04:57.490 -->
00:05:01.529you know, the Loper -Bright decision. in 2024
00:05:01.529 -->
00:05:04.410and mclaughlin chiropractic associates decision
00:05:04.410 -->
00:05:09.009in 2025 uh that held that uh you know trial courts
00:05:09.009 -->
00:05:12.230or you know federal trial courts are not bound
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00:05:18.089to be to in follow fcc interpretations um so
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00:05:20.569that's that's exactly what's happened here we
00:05:20.569 -->
00:05:23.310sort of anticipated it there's a lot of professionals
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00:05:25.649in our space that have anticipated this i know
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00:05:29.910you had alex presovic on last year you know,
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00:05:32.350and went through a litany of things and said,
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00:05:34.730well, what do we think will be challenged? And
00:05:34.730 -->
00:05:37.829one was that texts aren't calls, and we know
00:05:37.829 -->
00:05:42.069that that's being challenged. And now the challenge
00:05:42.069 -->
00:05:46.829to this, the FCC ruling from 2012 that says that,
00:05:46.889 -->
00:05:49.410you know, certain calls for certain purposes
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00:05:52.269has to be in writing, because the TCPA does not
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00:05:56.569say that at all. So that's exactly the, I mean,
00:05:56.589 -->
00:05:59.529that's the groundwork for this decision. Yeah.
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00:06:03.050Well, you covered a lot of territory there, I
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00:06:06.470think. We did. No, it's good. It's all connected.
00:06:06.829 -->
00:06:10.029Yeah, yeah. Well, the background, the details
00:06:10.029 -->
00:06:11.970of the case, but then also I think why it's creating
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00:06:15.930buzz, because, and we're lumped right in there,
00:06:16.069 -->
00:06:21.009had always understood that if it's a solicitation,
00:06:21.069 -->
00:06:23.129right, a telemarketing call, that it would require
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00:06:25.899express written consent. Right. And the Fifth
00:06:25.899 -->
00:06:28.180Circuit Court of Appeals says it doesn't make
00:06:28.180 -->
00:06:29.660any difference in the first place whether they're
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00:06:33.040informational or solicitous because the TCPA
00:06:33.040 -->
00:06:38.879doesn't require it for any type of call. So what
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00:06:43.360do you do with that? Well, what you do with it
00:06:43.360 -->
00:06:45.939is you have to think about, well, what court
00:06:45.939 -->
00:06:49.259is this, right? It is a federal court. It's the
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00:06:54.670Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. And the Fifth
00:06:54.670 -->
00:06:57.870Circuit Court of Appeals covers Texas, Louisiana,
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00:07:03.310and Mississippi. So we've got states throughout
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00:07:05.970the country that are part of different circuit
00:07:05.970 -->
00:07:09.310courts of appeal. There's 13 circuit courts of
00:07:09.310 -->
00:07:12.750appeal across the country. And this is the Fifth
00:07:12.750 -->
00:07:15.410Circuit Court of Appeals. And so this decision
00:07:15.410 -->
00:07:17.889is only binding on trial -level courts in those
00:07:17.889 -->
00:07:21.879three states. So, you know, immediately, you
00:07:21.879 -->
00:07:24.279know, we started hearing businesses saying, well,
00:07:24.379 -->
00:07:26.879gee, if I only operate in those three states,
00:07:26.980 -->
00:07:29.399you know, I've got a small business. I only operate
00:07:29.399 -->
00:07:33.459in Texas or or Louisiana or Mississippi. Then,
00:07:33.660 -->
00:07:35.839you know, I don't need I don't need express written
00:07:35.839 -->
00:07:39.459consent to send prerecorded messages. Just need
00:07:39.459 -->
00:07:42.420a phone number. Right. Right. But you've got
00:07:42.420 -->
00:07:46.879to be careful. Right. Because, you know. There
00:07:46.879 -->
00:07:49.560are, as you pointed out earlier, right, some
00:07:49.560 -->
00:07:53.199of these rules and laws could come from the state
00:07:53.199 -->
00:07:56.139level, right? So we know that Texas, for example,
00:07:56.220 -->
00:07:59.600as a result of SB 140 last year that went into
00:07:59.600 -->
00:08:02.079effect on September 1, right, they have consent
00:08:02.079 -->
00:08:04.819requirements. They don't necessarily define consent,
00:08:04.980 -->
00:08:08.319but because of the risk that's associated there,
00:08:08.480 -->
00:08:11.240you know, the private right of action, everybody's
00:08:11.240 -->
00:08:14.329saying, you know, apply the highest standard
00:08:14.329 -->
00:08:18.750possible to your consent in Texas. So I wouldn't
00:08:18.750 -->
00:08:21.069necessarily advise that, you know, you're going
00:08:21.069 -->
00:08:24.050to get a free ride here now. There's other, you
00:08:24.050 -->
00:08:31.029know, we could very well see a decision from
00:08:31.029 -->
00:08:34.190a district court of appeal and another district
00:08:34.190 -->
00:08:37.409court of appeal to rule differently. And then,
00:08:37.409 -->
00:08:39.210you know, then when you've got that happen, then
00:08:39.210 -->
00:08:41.049you've got a, you know, you've got what's considered
00:08:41.049 -->
00:08:44.940a circuit court split. where one is ruling one
00:08:44.940 -->
00:08:47.919way and one is ruling another. And then, you
00:08:47.919 -->
00:08:49.700know, usually the most logical conclusion there
00:08:49.700 -->
00:08:52.340is for it to be, you know, one of those to be
00:08:52.340 -->
00:08:54.019elevated to the Supreme Court and have the Supreme
00:08:54.019 -->
00:08:56.799Court decide. What would really be great is if
00:08:56.799 -->
00:09:00.620the Congress could finally amend, you know, the
00:09:00.620 -->
00:09:04.820TCPA to give some, shed some light on some of
00:09:04.820 -->
00:09:07.559this stuff, right? I mean, I've often said, I
00:09:07.559 -->
00:09:09.919think I've even said on your podcast that, you
00:09:09.919 -->
00:09:13.279know, People think, well, yeah, the FCC, they're
00:09:13.279 -->
00:09:15.820overreaching. The administrative state in our
00:09:15.820 -->
00:09:17.960country is now the fourth branch of government,
00:09:18.059 -->
00:09:20.200and they're overreaching, and they're making
00:09:20.200 -->
00:09:24.000law instead of passing rules to implement laws.
00:09:24.360 -->
00:09:28.059But they're the ones, the FCC and the FTC in
00:09:28.059 -->
00:09:29.500our world, they're the ones who are getting these
00:09:29.500 -->
00:09:33.049complaints, right? so uh they're the ones that
00:09:33.049 -->
00:09:35.669say well gee now technology is advanced now we've
00:09:35.669 -->
00:09:38.389got texts you know what do we do with texts and
00:09:38.389 -->
00:09:40.389they're saying okay well yeah we think that texts
00:09:40.389 -->
00:09:44.090are calls um what are we doing about robocalls
00:09:44.090 -->
00:09:46.230you know we're you know my phone's blown up from
00:09:46.230 -->
00:09:48.049pre -recorded messages from people that i didn't
00:09:48.049 -->
00:09:50.830even give consent to uh they're saying well okay
00:09:50.830 -->
00:09:53.250then it needs to be and and consent should be
00:09:53.250 -->
00:09:55.830in writing right to to and to your point you
00:09:55.830 -->
00:09:57.409know you have to agree to all those disclosures
00:09:58.080 -->
00:10:01.379um so you know they're i see it as that they've
00:10:01.379 -->
00:10:03.759been trying to step in and clear the air on a
00:10:03.759 -->
00:10:05.759lot of this stuff you know where technology is
00:10:05.759 -->
00:10:09.600outpacing the laws uh or in this case the tcpa
00:10:09.600 -->
00:10:12.559because uh uh you know congress hasn't acted
00:10:12.559 -->
00:10:15.559to amend it you know we saw an attempt what was
00:10:15.559 -->
00:10:18.320it early 2024 with what was called the do not
00:10:18.320 -->
00:10:20.799disturb act um you know that would have addressed
00:10:20.799 -->
00:10:23.740some of this stuff and um but it didn't for whatever
00:10:23.740 -->
00:10:25.440reason it didn't go anywhere we thought it might
00:10:25.440 -->
00:10:29.139be uh picked back up in 2025 but so far we haven't
00:10:29.139 -->
00:10:34.360seen anything in 2025 or 2026. yeah it's got
00:10:34.360 -->
00:10:37.179to be confusing for for telemarketers right now
00:10:37.179 -->
00:10:40.980all right when i say telemarketers i mean when
00:10:40.980 -->
00:10:43.379compliance point says telemarketers we're using
00:10:43.379 -->
00:10:46.320a lot of times you know federal or state definitions
00:10:46.320 -->
00:10:49.580of telemarketer which is broad that's why you
00:10:49.580 -->
00:10:54.870know i think it's not only interesting that the
00:10:54.870 -->
00:10:58.929trial court said it doesn't matter what the tcpa
00:10:58.929 -->
00:11:03.129doesn't require express written consent right
00:11:03.129 -->
00:11:07.490that's surprising itself but also that the initial
00:11:07.490 -->
00:11:11.269ruling that there were informational calls because
00:11:11.269 -->
00:11:13.870part of what i have always been told is that
00:11:13.870 -->
00:11:18.269if it's part of a plan or a campaign right for
00:11:18.269 -->
00:11:20.149some sort of solicitation even not initially
00:11:20.149 -->
00:11:22.230but down the line I mean, I could see that argued
00:11:22.230 -->
00:11:25.110that way, too. It's a reminder about a renewal,
00:11:25.230 -->
00:11:28.409right, of services where a payment's probably
00:11:28.409 -->
00:11:32.509going to be exchanged. Right, right. Very interesting.
00:11:32.690 -->
00:11:34.710So, yeah, it's got to be a confusing time. Absolutely.
00:11:34.710 -->
00:11:36.929I think to your point that, you know, there's
00:11:36.929 -->
00:11:38.450another school of thought out there that says
00:11:38.450 -->
00:11:42.210that, you know, if you're whatever steps you're
00:11:42.210 -->
00:11:45.289trying to take to consummate a deal or another
00:11:45.289 -->
00:11:49.230deal or an upgrade or to re -up, right you know
00:11:49.230 -->
00:11:50.830that that could be solicitous in and of itself
00:11:50.830 -->
00:11:53.870but you know in this particular case the you
00:11:53.870 -->
00:11:56.350know the trial court initially said that no we
00:11:56.350 -->
00:11:57.929think these are informational calls you know
00:11:57.929 -->
00:12:01.789they they they went by the the the uh the construct
00:12:01.789 -->
00:12:04.350of the fcc if you will right and said no these
00:12:04.350 -->
00:12:06.649are informational calls so they don't need a
00:12:06.649 -->
00:12:09.350written consent the fact that the plaint the
00:12:09.350 -->
00:12:11.269plaintiff supplied his number during the normal
00:12:11.269 -->
00:12:13.809course of business is sufficient here and but
00:12:13.809 -->
00:12:16.870what i find interesting too is is that um you
00:12:16.870 -->
00:12:19.110know, this Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, they
00:12:19.110 -->
00:12:21.090could have just affirmed that, right? They could
00:12:21.090 -->
00:12:22.690have just said, you know, we think these are
00:12:22.690 -->
00:12:26.889informational calls as well, and therefore, you
00:12:26.889 -->
00:12:29.330know, we're going to affirm the lower court decision.
00:12:29.750 -->
00:12:33.690But they went a step further. They said it doesn't
00:12:33.690 -->
00:12:34.850make any difference whether they're informational
00:12:34.850 -->
00:12:38.350or solicitous, because we don't think that the
00:12:38.350 -->
00:12:40.870TCPA requires express written consent to begin
00:12:40.870 -->
00:12:45.019with. Very interesting. Yeah. Yeah, because I
00:12:45.019 -->
00:12:46.340was thinking, too, even when you were talking
00:12:46.340 -->
00:12:49.120about small businesses only telemarketing in
00:12:49.120 -->
00:12:52.480Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi, you know, maybe
00:12:52.480 -->
00:12:55.539they start to take that. But you're right. It
00:12:55.539 -->
00:12:59.679seems like there's other gotcha ways, right,
00:12:59.840 -->
00:13:02.720that they could get, you know, find themselves
00:13:02.720 -->
00:13:05.980in hot water. Because when you were saying that,
00:13:06.139 -->
00:13:08.100I was also thinking, well, what about I mean,
00:13:08.120 -->
00:13:13.139Texas is a big state. A lot of residents in Texas,
00:13:13.220 -->
00:13:16.679a lot of consumers for even a company that does
00:13:16.679 -->
00:13:24.440market into all states to almost segment residents
00:13:24.440 -->
00:13:27.299of Texas and say, hey, we only need this sort
00:13:27.299 -->
00:13:31.259of consent for them, you know, dial away. But
00:13:31.259 -->
00:13:37.620I think there's just many other, you know, avenues
00:13:37.620 -->
00:13:40.389probably where they could. find themselves out
00:13:40.389 -->
00:13:42.490of compliance just because one trial court says
00:13:42.490 -->
00:13:44.230and i think you summed that up pretty well so
00:13:44.230 -->
00:13:48.350you know i think to put a bow on it and i know
00:13:48.350 -->
00:13:50.789i think we're only 15 minutes or so in this but
00:13:50.789 -->
00:13:52.970you covered it well i think you you gave the
00:13:52.970 -->
00:13:55.250situation and i would say for for any of our
00:13:55.250 -->
00:13:57.389listeners that want more you know reach out but
00:13:57.389 -->
00:14:02.250you gotta continue to to do what you've been
00:14:02.250 -->
00:14:04.230doing really for the most part it doesn't it
00:14:04.230 -->
00:14:06.549doesn't necessarily it's a head scratcher maybe
00:14:07.519 -->
00:14:09.799but not something to take a run with because
00:14:09.799 -->
00:14:12.379you could find yourselves right on the other
00:14:12.379 -->
00:14:15.259side of some compliance issues if you do. Yeah,
00:14:15.360 -->
00:14:17.059I was just going to add, too, that, you know,
00:14:17.080 -->
00:14:18.720like I said, you know, there were a lot of us
00:14:18.720 -->
00:14:23.299that said, well, you know, once the Loper -Bright
00:14:23.299 -->
00:14:25.360decision came out and the McLaughlin decision
00:14:25.360 -->
00:14:27.320came out and it's like, you know, the trial courts
00:14:27.320 -->
00:14:30.720don't have to adhere to FCC, it's like, well,
00:14:30.740 -->
00:14:33.889what changes might we see? right like i said
00:14:33.889 -->
00:14:36.029you know tax start calls was one of them and
00:14:36.029 -->
00:14:39.330that it happened within a month i believe um
00:14:39.330 -->
00:14:43.850and now um you know then another one that was
00:14:43.850 -->
00:14:46.470on everybody's bingo card if you will was uh
00:14:46.470 -->
00:14:49.389you know that are we going to find to have a
00:14:49.389 -->
00:14:51.850court that says that you know that the tcpa doesn't
00:14:51.850 -->
00:14:53.889require written consent and that and then we've
00:14:53.889 -->
00:14:55.590got it i don't know where we go from here in
00:14:55.590 -->
00:14:57.149terms of you know is there going to be another
00:14:58.009 -->
00:15:00.669topic uh that challenges an fcc interpretation
00:15:00.669 -->
00:15:03.509um but i know that those were the two that were
00:15:03.509 -->
00:15:05.570at the top of the list and and they both have
00:15:05.570 -->
00:15:10.950happened yeah well tony thank you as always very
00:15:10.950 -->
00:15:15.049uh concise but detailed at the same time so no
00:15:15.049 -->
00:15:17.889that was good i think that was a good recap for
00:15:17.889 -->
00:15:20.120our listeners and watchers If you have questions
00:15:20.120 -->
00:15:23.159on that, if you're considering, you know, what
00:15:23.159 -->
00:15:25.740sort of adaptations do we make to our campaigns,
00:15:25.899 -->
00:15:28.639if any, and you want a sounding board for that,
00:15:28.720 -->
00:15:30.779please don't hesitate to reach out. You can find
00:15:30.779 -->
00:15:33.059us at compliancepoint .com. You can email us
00:15:33.059 -->
00:15:36.279directly at connectatcompliancepoint .com. We'd
00:15:36.279 -->
00:15:37.919be happy to go over your situation with you,
00:15:38.019 -->
00:15:39.840tell you a little bit more about what we do,
00:15:40.000 -->
00:15:42.340and see if maybe there's an opportunity to support
00:15:42.340 -->
00:15:45.500beyond that. And if you like this podcast, please
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00:15:48.480continue to listen, subscribe. Tell your friends,
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00:15:55.679content like this and in other areas of regulatory
00:15:55.679 -->
00:15:59.740compliance and information security. Tony, have
00:15:59.740 -->
00:16:02.899a great rest of your day and everybody else be
00:16:02.899 -->
00:16:04.779well. Thank you very much, Jordan.