The Direct Marketing Association has joined Herndon,VA-based FreeEats.com in asking the Federal Communications Commission to use its preemptive power to regulate interstate fax and telemarketing.
The DMA petition to the FCC follows a North Dakota Supreme Court ruling on April 21 against FreeEats.com, which said the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 does not prevent states from regulating telemarketing. The state court upheld a ban on the use of prerecorded messages for telemarketing unless the message is introduced by a live operator.
North Dakota’s ruling was inconsistent with a ruling in U.S. district court in California in February that found California’s fax-ban law was preempted by federal telemarketing and fax laws, according to Jerry Cerasale, DMA senior vice president for government affairs.
Legitimate telemarketing is done across state lines, which means a single set of federal rules is needed, as opposed to a patchwork of state regulations, Cerasale said.
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