Mainstream Marketing Services, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
358 F.3d 1228 (2004)
- Written by Sheri Dennis, JD
Facts
In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (defendant) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2), that together created a national do-not-call registry (registry). The registry consisted of a list of telephone numbers belonging to individuals who did not wish to receive unsolicited commercial-telemarketing calls. Commercial telemarketers were required to pay a fee to access the registry and were also required to remove the listed numbers from their call lists. The registry did not apply to charitable- or political-fundraising calls. Additionally, a commercial telemarketer could call an individual listed in the registry if the seller had a relationship with the individual or if the individual had given written permission for the seller to call. Mainstream Marketing Services, Inc. (Mainstream) (plaintiff) brought an action against the FTC, challenging the constitutionality of the regulations. The district court held that the regulations were unconstitutional under the First Amendment and enjoined the FTC from implementing the registry. FTC challenged the injunction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ebel, J.)
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