DIRECTV Telemarketers Pay $75,000 Penalty for Do Not Call Violations

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced on August 10 that it entered into a court settlement with Nomrah Records, Inc. and its president, Mark Harmon – named defendants in the recent DIRECTV telemarketing case. Under the settlement, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on the FTC's behalf, Harmon will pay a $75,000 civil penalty and both he and the company will be barred from violating the Do Not Call (“DNC”) Rule and Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”) in the future.
In December 2005, the Commission charged DIRECTV and other defendants that telemarketed on DIRECTV's behalf with violating the DNC Rule and the TSR by calling consumers, despite the fact that their numbers were on the National DNC Registry. In settling the charges, DIRECTV paid $5.3 million, representing at the time the largest-ever DNC penalty obtained by the Commission.

The stipulated final judgment and order against Nomrah and Harmon contains strong injunctive relief, barring Nomrah and Harmon from calling consumers on the DNC Registry, as well as from violating any other provisions of the TSR in the future. The judgment and order also requires Harmon to pay a $75,000 civil penalty, with the stipulation that $400,575 will become due if he is found to have misrepresented his financial condition to the FTC. Finally, the order contains standard record keeping and reporting terms to ensure the defendants comply with the order.

The proposed settlement announced, if adopted by the court, will settle the FTC's charges against Nomrah Records, also d/b/a Direct Activation, and Mark Harmon, individually and as an officer of Nomrah Records. Litigation continues against the following defendants: D.R.D., Inc., also d/b/a Power Direct; Daniel R. Delfino, individually and as an officer of D.R.D.; Global Satellite, LLC., also d/b/a Mavcomm; William King, individually and as an officer of Global Satellite; and Michael Gleason, individually and as an officer of Global Satellite.

Authored by

Camelia C. Mazard
202-589-1837
cmazard@dbmlawgroup.com