The Federal Communications Commission has published its new rule designed, in part, to close the lead generator loophole by amending the definition of “prior express written consent” for purposes of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Lead generators take note. With the exception of provisions relating to combating robotext sources such as text message blocking, the effective date of the new rule will be March 2024, with a January 2025 effective date for the new requirement that lead generators obtain consumer consent to receive calls using regulated technologies one seller at a time – rather than have a single consent apply to multiple telemarketers at once.

Moreover, “calls must be logically and topically associated with the interaction that prompted the consent and the agreement must identify the telephone number to which the signatory authorizes such advertisements or telemarketing messages to be delivered.” Thus, for example, a consumer giving consent on a mortgage loan comparison website would not be deemed to have provided consent to receive robotexts or robocalls about auto insurance.