A telemarketing fraud suit filed May 23, 2023, by 48 states and the District of Columbia against VoIP service provider Avid Telecom for allegedly facilitating illegal robocall traffic on its network (see 2305230065), “does not contain a scintilla of evidence” that Avid ever initiated "even a single illegal robocall,” said the defendant's answer (docket 4:23-cv-00233) to the complaint Friday in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Tucson. Nor does the complaint have evidence that Avid knew “that any of the calls that it received from an originating aggregator or carrier was an illegal robocall," it said.
Robocall Abuse Litigation
U.S. District Judge Cindy Jorgenson for Arizona denied a motion to dismiss the robocalling complaint brought in May 2023 by the attorneys general of 48 states and the District of Columbia (see 2305230069), said the judge’s signed order Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-00233). Defendants Michael Lansky, his company Avid Telecom and Stacey Reeves, Avid’s vice president-operations and sales, filed the motion. The judge also denied their motion to stay the case and refer the AGs’ claims to the FCC and FTC for expert review, said her Wednesday order. Jorgenson granted the plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint within 14 days “to state an alter ego claim of individual liability” against defendant Lansky. Should the plaintiffs not amend their complaint, the defendants will have until June 14 to file an answer, said the order. The judge found there’s no merit to the defendants’ argument that as a matter of law, the plaintiffs’ TCPA claims fail because Avid can’t be found to have ever initiated any calls covered by the TCPA, it said. The defendants also provide no contrary law to that relied on by the plaintiffs, it said. The state AGs allege that Avid, Lansky and Reeves violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and state laws in 11 states in facilitating billions of illegal robocalls for years via the company's VoIP services. They allege that Avid received more than 329 notifications from USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group, putting it on notice that it was transmitting illegal robocalls. They also allege that Avid, Lansky and Reeves "knew or consciously avoided knowing they were routing illegal robocall traffic." Robocalls are a "scourge,” said North Carolina AG Josh Stein (D) in a statement Thursday, one of the few AGs to weigh in on the judge's denial of the motion to dismiss. “I’m pleased the court agreed that the defendants’ attempt to dismiss the case was baseless," he said.
The Insurance Marketing Coalition asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court to reject the FCC’s opposition to the coalition’s motion to stay portions of the commission’s Dec. 18 order implementing rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to target and eliminate illegal robotexts, pending the disposition of the coalition’s appeal to vacate the order, the coalition’s reply said Monday (docket 24-10277).
The office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) and robocall defendant Smartbiz Telecom seek a continuance of their trial for at least 90 days, said their joint motion Feb. 13 for continuance (docket 1:22-cv-23945) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. The court on Nov. 30 rescheduled the trial to start during the two-week period beginning March 4. The trial is set for a five-day period and will involve “novel and complex technical and legal issues” unique to the telecom field and federal law and regulation, it said. The continuance is being requested so that Smartbiz can secure additional counsel for the trial, and numerous technical issues in the cross motions for summary judgment can be resolved on their merits at trial, said the motion. The extension is sought “in good faith and not for purposes of delay.” Moody’s December 2022 complaint alleges that Smartbiz is “one of the most prolific transmitters of illegal robocalls” in the U.S., and that the VoIP company violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and other statutes, plus the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (see 2212060034).
The office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) and robocall defendant Smartbiz Telecom convened for a mediation video conference Friday but reached an 'impasse' in their efforts to resolve the dispute, said mediator Thomas Harper in a report Friday (docket 1:22-cv-23945) to U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. Moody’s December 2022 complaint alleges that Smartbiz is “one of the most prolific transmitters of illegal robocalls” in the U.S., and that the VoIP company violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and other statutes, plus the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (see 2212060034).
Smartbiz Telecom isn't an originating provider and doesn't have the capability to make calls, said the VoIP provider Monday in a reply (docket 1:22-cv-23945) to the response from the office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) to its statement of material facts in the state's Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuit (see 2311200027).
Defendant Smartbiz Telecom hasn’t met its burden to show that it's entitled to judgment as a matter of law, said the office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) in its response Friday (docket 1:22-cv-23945) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami to Smartbiz’s Sept. 28 motion for summary judgment in the state's robocalling case against the VoIP provider (see 2309290007). Making or initiating calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) doesn't "turn on an entity’s status” under FCC regulations, it said.
“Technology has evolved but the law has not," said defendants Atlas Marketing Partners and Atlas Investment Ventures in a Wednesday reply (docket 3:23-cv-00313) in support of their motion to dismiss and to strike the FTC’s February complaint (see 2302170050) in U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego. The complaint alleges a network of companies and individuals is responsible for delivering “tens of millions” of unwanted VoIP and ringless voicemail (RVM) phony debt service robocalls.
U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami designated Thomas Harper as the certified mediator in Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s (R) robocalling case against Smartbiz Telecom, said a clerk’s notice Wednesday (docket 1:22-cv-23945). Harper runs his own law and mediation practice in Jacksonville. The parties asked the court to designate a certified mediator on a “blind rotation basis” after they were unable to agree on one (see 2309060017). Moody’s Dec. 5 complaint called Smartbiz “one of the most prolific transmitters of illegal robocalls” in the U.S., alleging the VoIP company violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and other statutes, plus the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (see 2212060034).
The parties in Florida’s lawsuit to stop Smartbiz Telecom from transmitting illegal robocalls have been unable to agree on a mediator, and asked the clerk to designate a certified mediator on a “blind rotation basis,” said a filing Tuesday (docket 1:22-cv-23945) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. Patrick Crotty, Florida’s senior assistant attorney general, signed the request. U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez sent the parties to mediation in his signed Jan. 23 order, setting a Nov. 3 deadline for completing the mediation process. Trial in the case is scheduled to begin in the two-week period opening Jan. 2, said the January order. Florida’s Dec. 5 complaint called Smartbiz “one of the most prolific transmitters of illegal robocalls” in the U.S., alleging the VoIP company violated the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and other statutes, plus the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (see 2212060034).