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1 1 (April 28, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveddd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ *Research Service Informing the Iegistative debate since 1914 __________________ What Is an Autodialer (Part II)? The Supreme Court (Mostly) Resolves a Robocall Enforcement Question April 28, 2021 The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) makes it illegal to call any wireless phone number using an automatic telephone dialing system (an autodialer) or an artificial or prerecorded voice. While the text of the TCPA defines automatic telephone dialing system, uncertainty has emerged over how this definition-written in 1991-applies to a technological landscape that is far different today from what existed at the time the TCPA became law. On April 1, 2021, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, reversing the Ninth Circuit's interpretation of the term automatic telephone dialing system used in the TCPA. The TCPA defines an automatic telephone dialing system as equipment which has the capacity (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers. The Ninth Circuit had held that the qualifying phrase random or sequential number generator only applies to the word produce. Consequently, according to the Ninth Circuit, the definition includes devices with the capacity to dial stored numbers automatically, even if those devices do not have the capacity to store or produce numbers using a random or sequential number generator. The Supreme Court disagreed. It held that an automatic telephone dialing system is one that has the capacity to either store a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator or produce a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator. This Legal Sidebar briefly discusses the Supreme Court's decision and considerations for Congress relating to the TCPA's autodialer definition. For a more detailed background on the autodialer definition and prior legal developments, see this earlier Legal Sidebar. Background Facebook offers its users the ability to receive automated text message notifications when a user's account is accessed from a new device. Despite not being a Facebook user, Noah Duguid received these text message notifications repeatedly. Duguid asked Facebook to stop sending the notifications by text message and email but he continued to receive messages. Duguid then sued Facebook for violating the TCPA, specifically alleging that Facebook sent the text messages using an automatic telephone dialing Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10594 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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