interfering with a person’s right to be placed on any do-not-call registry; calling outside permissible calling hours; abandoning calls; failing to transmit caller ID information; threatening or intimidating a consumer or using obscene language; or calling or talking to a person with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass the person called. The Telemarketing Sales Rule applies to most businesses except for banks, nonprofits, insurance companies, and others that are regulated by state law. It also does not apply to unsolicited calls from consumers, telephone calls made by consumers in response to advertisements, and most business-to-business calls. Upsells within such calls are not exempt. “Click-to-Cancel Rule” The FTC announced the “Click-to-Cancel Rule” on October 16, 2024. The Rule applies to transactions that involve negative option features—features that consider a consumer’s inaction as acceptance of a product or service, like automatic renewals and free trial subscriptions. The Rule requires that sellers provide the clear and conspicuous disclosure of a consumer’s right to cancel or opt-out of such agreements. The Rule also requires that sellers (1) obtain a consumer’s express consent before charging them, and (2) provide a simple, easy to locate cancellation mechanism. Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act (DMPEA) Sweepstakes and other contests are governed by the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1999 . The Act establishes opt-out procedures and a number of required disclosures for sweepstakes or contest mailings, as well as mailings of facsimile checks and mailings made to resemble government documents. Failure to comply with the Act can lead to an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service, civil penalties, and a mail-stop order. Sweepstakes and contests are also covered by various state laws and any company looking into sweepstakes promotions
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