iSo I was re-reviewing that big X-Cast consent order from the FTC last year.
You might recall voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider XCast Labs, Inc., agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges by paying $10MM and agreeing to a bunch of other tight terms and restrictions.
I was initially most interested in the requirement that XCast agreed to immediately TERMINATE any customer that engaged in telemarketing without its own individual Subscription Account Number (SAN) for accessing the National Do Not Call Registry. A lot of folks out there fail to obtain their own SAN and work with services that permit scrubbing without a SAN which is really not allowed in my view (or the FTCs).
But as I re-worked through the order I was reminded of this phrase “High-Risk Customer.”
In the order X-Cast agree to be particularly watchful over “High-Risk Customers” and terminate their service anytime such a customer:
- “pays for services by any means other than (a) a bank transfer from a financial institution domiciled in the United States or (b) a credit card”; or
- the High-Risk Customer has been the subject of, a total of three (3) or more federal or state government agency subpoenas or civil investigative demands
issued to or otherwise shared with Defendant; or - Three or more ITG traceback tickets.
So these are pretty good standards for carriers to keep in mind– if you receive three tickets or three subpoenas regarding a single company it might be time to turn off the spiggot (in addition to terminating any marketer that doesn’t have their own SAN).
But who are high-risk customers?
Per the FTC they include “any Customer that engages in Telemarketing or any Person domiciled outside of the United States.”
Ta da.
So if you’re a telemarketer you are “high risk” in the eyes of the FTC. And, of course, anyone overseas is also high risk which… I think I am ok with.
Obviously I don’t love the idea that anyone who is a marketer is instantly high risk in the eyes of a federal regulator, but… what else is new.
Again carriers really ought to be paying attention to this.
