Cybersecurity Policy Report, State AGs Back En Banc Review of FCC’s ‘One-to-One’ Marketing Rule, (Mar 18, 2025)

By Jeff Williams

The attorneys general from 27 states and the District of Columbia have filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (Atlanta) to grant a petition by the National Consumer Law Center to conduct an en banc review of a three-judge panel’s unanimous January decision to vacate provisions in the FCC’s 2023 order limiting consents for marketing robocalls and robotext to one entity at a time.

In its decision (CPR, Jan. 28), the appeals court panel found that the FCC’s order aimed at closing the “lead generator” loophole under its previous rules impermissibly expanded on the requirement in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that prior consent be obtained for such calls.

The FCC’s “one-to-one” consent rule is a “critical nationwide enforcement tool—complementing state enforcement efforts—that aims to shut the spigot of illegal robocalls,” the attorneys general said, Brief for the District of Columbia et al., as Amici Curiae Supporting Proposed Intervenor the National Consumer Law Center, Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC and United States of America, No. 24-10277 (March 17, 2025).

The appeals court panel’s decision “invalidating this commonsense rule threatens Amici States’ interest in protecting consumers, families, and businesses from the deluge of invasive robocalls,” they said.

The one-to-one consent rule “empowers consumers to make informed decisions when sharing their contact information, preventing harm before it even occurs,” the attorneys general said. “This reduces the scale of robocalls and allows state enforcement to focus on downstream actors that continue to flout state and federal law.”

The brief was filed by the attorneys general from the District of Columbia, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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