Photo of Paul Besozzi

Paul Besozzi

I have practiced in the telecommunications regulatory field, including before the FCC and state regulatory agencies, for some 35 years. This has included advising clients on all manner of compliance, rulemaking, enforcement and legislative issues relating to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Junk Fax Act, particularly before the FCC which develops the regulations implementing those statutes. My efforts include reviewing clients' technology and TCPA compliance plans to determine whether they meet FCC requirements and advising on strategies for raising issues with the FCC.

Contact:Read more about Paul Besozzi

In recent years text messaging has emerged as one of the most used methods of communications among American consumers, and those entities who seek to reach out to contact them. According to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC), in 2020, 2.2 trillion Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages were exchanged in America alone. These figures do not include messages using applications such as WhatsApp and We Chat.

This dynamic growth has also raised concern about those who would use the technology to scam and trick consumers. Last October, then Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, out of a concern about such potential abuses, circulated to her fellow Commissioners “a proposed rulemaking that would require mobile wireless providers to block illegal text messaging, building on the agency’s ongoing work to stop illegal and unwanted robocalls”. That proposal remains pending at the FCC.Continue Reading FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Reports on State of Text Messaging and Makes Recommendations

Section 222 of the Communications Act and the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) implementing regulations impose on “every telecommunications carrier…a [general] duty to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information of, and relating to, other telecommunication carriers, equipment manufacturers, and customers.”

This duty includes customer proprietary network information “relating to the ‘quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location,…

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) has continued to flex its regulatory muscles when it comes to invasion of consumer privacy via illegal telemarketing calls. The Bureau has issued eight new cease and desist letters to voice service providers in connection apparent transmission of calls many of which included “prerecorded advertising messages marketing…

Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced on May 17, 2022 “new robocall investigation partnerships with the Attorneys General of Iowa, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.” In addition to these new agreements, the FCC is building on its existing robocall investigation partnership with the New York Department of…

On April 27, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) (and an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM)) to make adjustments to the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule at 16 C.F.R. Part 310 (TSR). Among other things, the TSR “requires telemarketers to make specific disclosures of material information; prohibits…

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed “new rules to combat international scam robocall campaigns from entering American networks through gateway providers – the on-ramps for international call traffic.”  

The FCC’s April 27, 2022, News Release described the proposal as “part of the Chairwoman’s agenda to close the avenues by which robocall scammers are …

Section 13(d)(1) of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) directed the the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) to establish a process for registering a “single consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls.” The FCC is required to consider new interested consortia on an …

Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced on April 7, 2022, that “five more state Attorneys General are partnering with the FCC in robocall investigations.” As a result, a majority of states (some 27 plus the District of Columbia) have now signed Memoranda of Understanding (“MOU”) with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau.

The most recent …

Fingerprint Scanning on Blue TechnologyThe Illinois Supreme Court’s recent broad interpretation of the pioneering Illinois Biometric Identity Protection Act justifies close attention to legislative and regulatory developments regarding collection and protection of biometric identifier data.  Our previous report of this decision may be found here.  Two other states, Texas and Washington, already have biometric identifier privacy laws in place, although not with the breadth of the Illinois statute. For example, neither of those statutes provides for a private right of action that is afforded under the Illinois law. In each case, enforcement of provisions is left to the state Attorney General. 
Continue Reading States’ Focus on Biometric Privacy Developments Warrants Close Attention