Glossary

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Figures named in a definition: TCPA damages per call and every other number. Full text of each statute or rule cited: TCPA statute citations.

10DLC

Ten-digit long code: the carrier registration system for application-to-person SMS in the United States. A carrier requirement, not law.

Actual damages

The monetary loss a plaintiff can prove from a violation. Recoverable instead of statutory damages if greater; rarely elected because loss from a call is small.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)(A), (c)(5)(B)

Advertisement

Any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods or services. A call that includes or introduces one is subject to the written-consent rules.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)

Affirmative defence

A defence the defendant must plead and prove. Consent is one under the TCPA. The do-not-call provision also supplies a statutory defence of reasonable practices and procedures.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5)

AI-generated voice

A synthesised or cloned human voice produced by software. Treated by the FCC since February 2024 as an "artificial" voice, so calls using it need the same consent as prerecorded calls.src: FCC 24-17, CG Docket 23-362 (Feb. 8, 2024)

Artificial or prerecorded voice

Any voice heard by the called party that is not a live human speaking in real time: a recording, an IVR, a voicemail drop, a synthesised voice.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A), (B)

ATDS (automatic telephone dialing system)

Equipment which has the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator, and to dial such numbers. After Facebook v. Duguid (2021), the generator is required; list-based dialers without one are outside the definition.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1); 592 U.S. 395 (2021)

Called party

The person whose consent matters under § 227(b)(1)(A). Generally read as the current subscriber or customary user of the number, not the intended recipient, which is why calls to reassigned numbers are violations.

Caller ID spoofing

Causing a caller identification service to transmit misleading or inaccurate information. Unlawful under § 227(e) when done with intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(e)

Calling hours

The window within which telephone solicitations may be made: 8am to 9pm local time at the called party’s location under federal rules. Florida and Oklahoma: 8am to 8pm.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1)

Cellular number

A number assigned to a cellular telephone service. Autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to it need prior express consent; marketing ones need prior express written consent.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii)

Class action

A suit on behalf of all persons similarly called. Common under the TCPA because liability rests on records and damages are fixed per call. Rule 23, Fed. R. Civ. P.

Company-specific do-not-call list

The list each seller must keep of persons who have asked it not to call, with a written policy, training, prompt recording, and five-year retention. Also called the internal DNC list.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d)

Concrete injury

The harm a federal plaintiff must show for standing under Spokeo v. Robins (2016). Courts generally treat unwanted calls and texts as concrete.

Consent

Permission from the called party. Three forms matter: prior express consent, prior express written consent, and the absence of revocation. See each entry.

Demand letter

A pre-suit notice from a claimant or their representative describing alleged violations and proposing resolution by a deadline. Not a court filing. Its receipt is notice for willfulness purposes.

Discovery

The phase of litigation in which each side must produce relevant records. In a TCPA case this typically includes the defendant’s full dialer and consent records for the class period.

Do Not Call Registry (National)

The FTC-operated list of numbers whose subscribers object to telephone solicitations. Registrations do not expire. Sellers must scrub against a version no more than 31 days old.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2); 16 C.F.R. § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)

Duguid

Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021). Supreme Court decision holding that an ATDS must have the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers.

E-SIGN signature

An electronic signature valid under the E-SIGN Act. Prior express written consent may be obtained by email, web form, text, keypress or voice recording that complies with it.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)

Emergency purposes

Calls made necessary in any situation affecting the health and safety of consumers. Exempt from the consent requirements.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(4)

Established business relationship (EBR)

A prior or existing relationship formed by a purchase or transaction within 18 months, or an inquiry or application within three months, before the call. Exempts live solicitations to registered numbers; ends on a do-not-call request; does not cover prerecorded telemarketing.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(5)

FCC

Federal Communications Commission. Writes the TCPA rules at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, issues declaratory rulings, and enforces by citation and forfeiture.

Forfeiture

A civil monetary penalty imposed by the FCC for violations. The TRACED Act added an additional penalty for intentional violations.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(4)

FTC

Federal Trade Commission. Operates the National Do Not Call Registry and enforces the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310.

FTSA

Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.059. Private right of action since July 2021: $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful; 8am to 8pm; three calls per 24 hours; 15-day STOP notice for text claims since 2023.

Government-debt exception

A 2015 exception for calls collecting debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States. Held unconstitutional and severed in Barr v. AAPC, 591 U.S. 610 (2020).

Hobbs Act

The statute giving courts of appeals exclusive jurisdiction to review FCC orders. After McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson (2025), district courts in private TCPA cases are not bound by FCC interpretations.

Informational call

A call that contains no advertising or telemarketing content, such as an appointment reminder or delivery notice. Needs prior express consent, not written consent, when autodialed or prerecorded to a cell phone.

Injunction

A court order to stop the violating conduct. Available in both private rights of action and to state attorneys general.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)(A), (c)(5)(A), (g)

Internal DNC request

A request to a specific company not to call again. Must be recorded at the time, honoured within a reasonable period, and kept for five years.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d)(3), (d)(6)

Junk fax

An unsolicited advertisement sent to a fax machine. Prohibited by § 227(b)(1)(C), subject to the EBR and opt-out notice conditions of the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005.

Knowing

With knowledge of the facts constituting the violation. Paired with "willfully" as the trigger for trebling. Most courts do not require knowledge that the conduct was unlawful.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5)

Lead generator

A business that collects consumer contact details and consent, often through comparison websites, and sells them to sellers. Consent collected this way must still name the seller clearly.

Limitations period

The time within which a suit must be filed: four years from each violation under 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a).

Mims

Mims v. Arrow Financial Services, LLC, 565 U.S. 368 (2012). Federal courts have federal-question jurisdiction over private TCPA claims.

Mini-TCPA

Informal term for a state statute modelled on the TCPA with its own private right of action, often with a broader automated-system definition. Florida (2021) and Oklahoma (2022) are the main examples.

One-to-one consent rule

A 2023 FCC rule requiring lead-generation consent to name one seller at a time. Vacated by the Eleventh Circuit on 24 January 2025 before it took effect.

Opt-out

A request to stop receiving calls or texts. Prerecorded telemarketing calls must offer an automated opt-out at the start; texts must honour STOP and similar replies.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(b)(3), (a)(10)

Predictive dialer

Equipment that dials numbers from a list and connects answered calls to available agents. Held an ATDS by the FCC in 2003; after Duguid, only if it uses a random or sequential number generator.

Prior express consent

Consent given before the call. For informational autodialed or prerecorded calls to a cell phone, providing the number for that purpose generally suffices.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)

Prior express written consent (PEWC)

A signed written agreement that clearly authorises the seller to deliver advertisements or telemarketing messages by ATDS or artificial or prerecorded voice to a designated number, with a clear and conspicuous disclosure that consent is not a condition of purchase. Required for marketing robocalls and robotexts.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)

Private right of action

The right of the person called to sue. Two under the TCPA: § 227(b)(3) for automated-equipment violations and § 227(c)(5) for do-not-call violations (more than one call in 12 months).

Reasonable means (revocation)

Any reasonable method by which a consumer withdraws consent. Callers may not restrict revocation to a single method.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10)

Reassigned number

A number given up by one subscriber and assigned to another. Consent does not transfer. The FCC’s Reassigned Numbers Database (2021) and a safe harbour at § 64.1200(m) address it.

Release

The clause in a settlement in which the claimant gives up claims. Its scope (numbers, period, entities) is the main non-money term.

Residential telephone line

A landline at a residence. Prerecorded telemarketing to it needs written consent; the do-not-call rules protect residential subscribers, a category the FCC presumes includes registered wireless numbers.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(B)

Revocation

Withdrawal of consent, effective when made by any reasonable means. Must be honoured within ten business days under rules effective April 2025.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10)

Ringless voicemail

A recorded message delivered to a voicemail box without ringing the phone. Ruled a call under the TCPA by the FCC in November 2022.

Robocall

Informal term for a call made with an ATDS or an artificial or prerecorded voice. Not a statutory term.

Robotext

Informal term for an automated text message. A text is a call under the TCPA.

Safe harbour (do-not-call)

The rule excusing a call to a registered number made in error, if the seller had written procedures, training, an internal list, a scrub process using a registry version under 31 days old with records, and the call was an error.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2)(i)

Scrub

Suppressing numbers on the National Registry or an internal list from a calling list before a campaign. Must use a registry version no more than 31 days old.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2)(i)(D)

Seller

The person or entity on whose behalf a telephone call or message is initiated for the purpose of advertising or selling its property, goods or services. Liable for calls made on its behalf under agency principles.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)

Settlement

A negotiated resolution by agreement, usually payment in exchange for a release with no admission of liability.

Soundboard

Technology by which a live agent plays prerecorded audio clips in response to the called party. Treated by FTC staff as prerecorded for Telemarketing Sales Rule purposes.

Standing

The constitutional requirement that a federal plaintiff show a concrete, particularised injury. See concrete injury.

Statutory damages

A fixed sum per violation awarded without proof of loss: $500 under § 227(b)(3), up to $500 under § 227(c)(5).

STIR/SHAKEN

The caller-ID authentication framework voice providers must implement under the TRACED Act. Reduces spoofing; not a consent rule.

STOP

The conventional keyword for revoking consent to texts. Along with QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE, listed by the FCC as a per se reasonable revocation.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10)

Telemarketing

The initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services.src: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)

Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)

The FTC’s rule at 16 C.F.R. Part 310, which includes the Do Not Call Registry requirements and runs in parallel with the FCC’s rules.

Telephone solicitation

A call or message to encourage a purchase, rental or investment, excluding calls made with prior express invitation or permission, to a person with an EBR, or by a tax-exempt nonprofit. The term the do-not-call rules use.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4)

TRACED Act

Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, signed 30 December 2019. STIR/SHAKEN mandate, longer FCC enforcement window, forfeiture penalty for intentional violations.

Treble damages

An award of up to three times the statutory amount, $1,500 per violation, at the court’s discretion for willful or knowing violations.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5)

Unsolicited advertisement

Material advertising the commercial availability or quality of property, goods or services transmitted without prior express invitation or permission. The fax provision’s key term.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(5)

Vicarious liability

Liability of a seller for calls physically made by another, under federal common-law agency principles: actual authority, apparent authority or ratification.src: In re Dish Network, 28 FCC Rcd 6574 (2013)

Willful

Conscious and deliberate conduct. Paired with "knowingly" as the trigger for trebling. Calls after a stop request or after a demand letter are the usual evidence.src: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5)

Wrong number call

A call to a number that was reassigned or mis-entered. Still a call to the called party; consent of the intended recipient does not help unless the safe harbour applies.