Targeting and Eliminating Unlawful Text Messages, Implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, Advanced Methods To Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) requires terminating mobile wireless providers to block text messages from a particular number following notification from the Commission. The Commission also codifies that the National Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry's protections extend to text messages. In addition, the Commission encourages mobile wireless providers to make email-to-text, a major source of illegal texts, a service that consumers proactively opt into. The Commission closes the lead generator loophole by requiring comparison shopping websites to get consumer consent one seller at a time, if prior express written consent is required under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and thus prohibits abuse of consumer consent by such websites. Finally, the Commission adopts a limited waiver to allow providers to use the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) to determine whether a number that the Commission has ordered to be blocked has been permanently disconnected. Such waiver will help prevent blocking of lawful texts from a new subscriber to the number.