Summary
The Ninth Circuit held that the statutory definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) includes equipment that stores telephone numbers to be called and dials them automatically, regardless of whether the numbers were generated by a random or sequential number generator. The court vacated summary judgment for the defendant, finding a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the Textmunication system—which sent promotional text messages from a stored list—qualified as an ATDS. The decision relied on the D.C. Circuit's invalidation of FCC interpretations in ACA International v. FCC, and rejected the argument that an ATDS must operate without any human intervention.
Holdings
- The statutory definition of ATDS includes equipment that has the capacity to store numbers to be called and dial them automatically, regardless of whether the numbers were generated by a random or sequential number generator.
Questions Presented
- Whether the Textmunication system qualifies as an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1), specifically whether an ATDS requires a random or sequential number generator or includes devices that dial from stored lists.
Disposition
vacated_and_remanded
Cases Cited (21)
- ACA Int'l v. FCC, 885 F.3d 687 (D.C. Cir. 2018)(relied_on)
- Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., 569 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. 2009)(relied_on)
- Thomas v. Ponder, 611 F.3d 1144 (9th Cir. 2010)(relied_on)
- Guido v. Mount Lemmon Fire Dist., 859 F.3d 1168 (9th Cir. 2017)(relied_on)
- Negusie v. Holder, 555 U.S. 511 (2009)(relied_on)
- Carcieri v. Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009)(relied_on)
- Ileto v. Glock, Inc., 565 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2009)(relied_on)
- Jonah R. v. Carmona, 446 F.3d 1000 (9th Cir. 2006)(relied_on)
- FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120 (2000)(relied_on)
- Davis v. Michigan Dep't of Treasury, 489 U.S. 803 (1989)(relied_on)
Showing top 10 of 21.
Cited In (0)
No citing cases on record yet.