Great news today! We’ve prevailed in our lawsuit against the state of Mississippi after a federal judge struck down the state’s recently enacted Anti-Caller ID Spoofing Act. Why is this a big deal? Because we’re now 2 for 2 in our lawsuits against states that have tried to create anti-caller ID spoofing laws. You may remember that in 2009 we won our first lawsuit against the state of Florida.
Here’s our press release announcing today’s victory in this case:
Toms River, NJ — In an important case that confirms once again that there are constitutional limits on states' attempts to regulate activities conducted over electronic networks, including the Internet, the U.S. District Court in Jackson, MS, ruled that Mississippi’s recently enacted Anti-Caller ID Spoofing Act was unconstitutional and issued a judgment in favor of TelTech Systems Inc, the parent company of SpoofCard. The anti-spoofing act prohibited most callers and caller ID spoofing service providers such as SpoofCard from using caller ID spoofing to change the caller ID number when making a call within or to any person in Mississippi.
The plaintiffs, who also included callers that use the caller ID spoofing feature on their business and personal calls, claimed that the Mississippi law violated the U.S. Constitution and the court agreed. The judge recognized that the proliferation of mobile phones, call forwarding, and other technological developments made it impossible for callers or service providers outside of Mississippi to ensure that they were not violating the Mississippi law except by not using caller ID spoofing at all. Thus, the law had the practical effect of regulating commerce outside the state’s borders, in violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
This is not the first time SpoofCard has won its lawsuit against a state’s anti-caller ID spoofing legislation. The Mississippi district court came to the same conclusion as a Miami federal district court, which in 2009 struck down a similar Florida law in TelTech Systems, Inc. v. McCollum, Case No. 08-61644-CIV-Martinez-Brown (S.D. Fla. July 16, 2009).
Moving forward, the Mississippi and Florida decisions have set important precedents for future challenges to potential anti-caller ID spoofing laws in other states. Furthermore, the court’s reasoning is not strictly limited to anti-caller ID spoofing laws, as it also applies broadly to a state’s attempts to regulate activities conducted over national or global electronic networks, such as the Internet.
For more information on the Mississippi District Court decision in TelTech Systems, Inc. v. Barbour, Civil No. 3:10CV679TSL-FKB (D.C.S.D. Miss), please contact TelTech’s attorney, Mark Del Bianco, at 301-933-7216.
SpoofCard is the world’s largest caller ID spoofing service. It offers its service in the United States and around the world. SpoofCard is available to anyone, is purchased as a prepaid service similar to a calling card, and works to and from any phone. SpoofCard customers range from individuals to business professionals to celebrities.