Satellite company to pay over $200 million for telemarketing violations

Federal Issues DOJ TCPA Telemarketing Sales Rule FTC Act FTC State Issues Courts Appellate Seventh Circuit

On December 7, the DOJ announced a settlement with a satellite service provider totaling over $210 million in penalties to be paid to the United States and four states for alleged violations of the TCPA, the FTC Act, and similar state laws. The settlement stems from an action brought by the United States against the satellite company in 2009 asserting that the company initiated millions of unlawful telemarketing calls to consumers and was responsible for millions of calls made by marketers of the company’s products and services. In 2017, a district court awarded the U.S. and the states of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio $280 million in civil penalties, with a record $168 million going to the federal government (covered by InfoBytes here). On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed liability but vacated and remanded the monetary award for recalculation.

The stipulated judgment requires the satellite company to pay over $200 million in civil penalties, with $126 million going to the U.S. government, nearly $40 million to California, over $6.5 million to Illinois, nearly $14 million to North Carolina, and $17 million to Ohio.