Don't reach out and touch us any more: Expanding telephone consumer protection

In December, 1991, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 became law. This bill regulates telemarketing activity and is intended to protect the home privacy interests of American telephone customers. The federal law is substantially similar to legislation recently enacted by numerous states. This article explains the main provisions of the new federal law, as well as the various state regulations. Then, the piece compares and contrasts the federal and state approaches to see if any state laws are preempted by the controlling federal bill. Finally, the article examines the free speech rights of telephone solicitors to determine if any of these new laws violate first amendment freedoms. An appendix provides a quick reference to the main provisions of the state laws.