Legal Reference List for Mobile Marketing

We all know (or should know by now) that there are a LOT of legal considerations to keep in mind when adding mobile marketing to your multi-channel marketing strategy. At last week’s Mobile Marketing day, hosted by Mobile Marketer and the Direct Marketing Association, a panel of legal experts went over some of the legal Do’s and Dont’s of mobile marketing. Here is handy list of the major laws, regulations, and rules that apply to mobile marketing.

Federal Trade Commission Act

The Federal Trade Commission Act established the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is an independent federal agency whose purpose is to protect the consumer.

State Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices Statutes

Most states have enacted statutes that mirror the FTC efforts to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive trade practices of businesses. Many either reference, or explicitly incorporate, the definition and regulations adopted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pursuant to Section 5(a)(1) of the FTC Act (“The Act”). Section 5 of The Act provides that, “Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful.”

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (“CAN-SPAM Act”) and the corresponding Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) rules

The CAN_SPAM Act of 2003 established the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and required the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions. It also required the FTC to promulgate rules to shield consumers from unwanted mobile phone spam.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”) and the corresponding FCC rules

The TCPA is the primary law in the US governing the conduct of telephone solicitations, ie. telemarketing. The TCPA restricts the use of automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages received by cell phones, and the use of fax machines to send unsolicited advertisements. Several major court cases, including Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster and Abbas v. Selling Source, have made it abundantly clear that the TCPA does apply to mobile marketing.

Do-Not-Call Rules

FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from calling a cellular phone number with an automatic dialer. The cell phone numbers do not need to be a part of the National Do Not Call Registry.

Customer Proprietary Network Information (“CPNI”) rules

Customer proprietary network information (CPNI) is the data collected by telecommunications companies about a consumer’s telephone calls. It includes the time, date, duration and destination number of each call, the type of network a consumer subscribes to, and any other information that appears on the consumer’s telephone bill. The U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996 granted the FCC authority to regulate how Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) can be used and to enforce related consumer information privacy provisions.

Industry Guidelines

Prominent Industry organizations and associations, such as Mobile Marketing Association, CARU, CTIA-The Wireless Assocation, etc, have issues regulations detailing the use and ethics of mobile marketing. While this type of self regulation is non-binding, it can be farther reaching that state or federal laws because they have become the defacto standard world wide.

Direct Marketing Association

The Direct Marketing Association is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques