FCC Proposes $5 Million Robocalling Fine

 In a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, the FCC proposed a $5,134,500 fine against lobbyists John Burkman and Jacob Alexander Wohl, and J.M. Burkman & Associates LLC, Burkman’s political consulting firm. The Commission says the men apparently made 1,141 unlawful robocalls to wireless phones without prior consent, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The Enforcement Bureau found that the calls were apparently pre-recorded and made to voters’ wireless phones.

In most cases, the TCPA prohibits making pre-recorded voice calls to wireless phones without the consent of those receiving the calls – regardless of the content. The robocalls in this case, made on August 26 and September 14, 2020, used messages telling potential voters that, if they vote by mail, their “personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts.” Continue Reading