In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), CFA and other consumer groups are calling on the FCC to reject a petition by Outcome Health, which requests that FCC clarify that “an unknowable technical error is protected from liability [under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)] pursuant to the SoundBite decision” or, in the alternative, that “an undetected and inadvertent technical error satisfies the requirements for a safe harbor.” We believe that the Commission should do neither. There is no language in this consumer protection statute authorizing an exemption from liability if the Commission finds that the caller or texter of messages that are otherwise unquestionably illegal under the TCPA should avoid liability because of a mistake either pursuant to the Soundbite decision, or through a safe harbor.
