Supreme Court Takes on Auto-Dialing

Decision in Facebook case lends clarity — at least for liability purposes —as to what is and isn’t an automatic telephone dial system.
Though decided on April 1, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Facebook v. Duguid et. al was no April Fools for those against the business practice of sending telemarketing text or phone messages via automatic telephone dial systems (ATDS), or auto-dialers. In fact, those in the ATDS business probably uttered a collective sigh of relief — if not laughed outright —based on the court’s decision, which effectively and conclusively limits the definition of ATDS for regulatory purposes. This has been an issue for as long as ATDS matters have been litigated, with various Circuit Courts deciding the question differently. Now, at least, we have some authoritative clarity.

Click to read more ...

Here’s an Update on Cybercrime and Ransomware

Spoiler alert, the news isn’t good
Maybe it’s because people are bored at home. Maybe it’s because we’ve let our guards down. Maybe bad guys are upping their games. Or maybe it’s all of the above. But recent notes from both large insurers and state and federal authorities are issuing stark warnings about the likelihood of targeted cyberattacks, and the potential costs of those attacks, both in terms of financial loss and physical damage.

Click to read more ...

New Administration, New FCC, New Priorities… Now What?

Change is in order for Net neutrality, ISP regulation, and infrastructure investment.

A new sheriff is in Washington, D.C., at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and his arrival means all sorts of change is heading down the pike. This includes at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has a new acting chair, Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel. While the FCC  remains politically deadlocked for now, with two Republican and two Democratic commissioners, the fact remains that it’s a new day at the FCC.

Click to read more ...

Biden Administration FCC Policy Priorities: A Look Ahead

It's going to be an interesting year.
With the announcement at the end of November that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Ajit Pai, as is customary, will step away from the FCC on Inauguration Day, it’s important to try to read the tea leaves of how a Biden Administration will change the trajectory of the FCC. While the Pai-directed FCC has taken major steps forward in the direction of 5G deployment, in other areas of communications technology policy and deployment, its actions hurt consumers the most, particularly with the horribly misnamed “Restoring Internet Freedom Act (RIFA),” which invalidated much of the original net neutrality provisions enacted in 2015 when Tom Wheeler was FCC Chairman and Barack Obama was President. Although a return to Obama-era policies, particularly in the area of actual broadband deployment, won’t come easy, they should, and for many, they can’t come quickly enough.

Click to read more ...

Why “Vishing” is the Bad Word of the Week

This new wrinkle in cybercrime can create a target for your enterprise. Follow these six tips to avoid falling victim.

As if these times weren’t sufficiently challenging without creative criminals, it’s time for the introduction of a new bad word/cybercrime called ”vishing.”  Late last week, the FBI and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an advisory to address a new wrinkle in cybercrime—that of vishing—a problem that has been exacerbated by the large number of people who are working remotely in the COVID-19 environment. 

Click to read more ...