Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 requires telemarketing firms to take a name off their lists if requested by the consumer. The law requires them to have a written policy for maintaining "do-not-call" lists. The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Abuse Prevention Act of 1994 also makes it illegal for a telemarketing firm to call after a consumer has asked not to be and requires the firm to keep "do-not-call" lists. Under both laws, unless there is prior consent, telemarketing firms can only make calls to residences between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Under the 1994 law, all state attorneys general have authority to investigate and to pursue civil actions against firms who may have harmed a person by deceptive and unfair business practices.

The TCPA also gives citizens the right to sue to stop future faxes, to recover monetary damages up to $500 for each unwanted fax, or both. If a court finds that the sender willfully or knowingly violated the law, awards can be increased up to three times the amount of damages. Other federal rules require that messages sent to a fax machine be clearly marked with the date and time the transmission is sent, the identity of the sender, and the telephone number of the sender or of the sending fax machine.

State lawmakers have passed a variety of laws that place restrictions on unsolicited telemarketing calls and unsolicited faxes. For example, Arizona law requires that unsolicited commercial fax advertisements include the name, address, fax number or toll free or local contact telephone number of the vendor. And, both Minnesota and Tennessee specify the font size required to be used in the text of solicited faxes.

In 2005, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin passed telemarketing or unsolicited fax transmission laws.