Are text messages considered telephone calls under the TCPA's Do Not Call rules?

A growing number of courts say no, most recently a W.D. Missouri court in Rush v. Selectquote Insurance, 2026 WL 2495598 (July 30, 2026), which held SMS messages are not calls for TCPA DNC purposes.

What will telemarketers pay to access the National Do Not Call Registry in 2027?

The FTC announced new fees for Fiscal Year 2027, which begins October 1, 2026, for telemarketers accessing phone numbers on the National DNC Registry. All telemarketers calling US consumers must download this data.

What happened to the TCPA suit tied to attorney Gerald Lane's firm?

A TCPA suit brought by attorneys at the same plaintiff's law group was dismissed for lack of prosecution, following earlier reporting that Gerald Lane had faced 145 orders to show cause for failing to prosecute 145 TCPA suits.

What percentage of numbers checked on 1Lookup came back VOIP on August 27, 2026?

Across 19,024 checks run on the 1Lookup platform on 2026-08-27, 0.5% came back VOIP.

Thursday, August 27, 2026

Missouri Court Rules SMS Aren't Calls Under TCPA DNC Rules, FTC Sets 2027 DNC Fees

A federal court in Missouri has joined a growing group of courts holding that SMS messages are not telephone calls under the TCPA's Do Not Call provisions. Separately, the FTC announced its 2027 fee schedule for telemarketer access to the National DNC Registry, and a TCPA suit tied to a plaintiff's firm with a history of prosecution failures was dismissed.

1Lookup Signal Report

19,024 checks run on 1Lookup, 0.5% came back VOIP

Mobile numbers made up 96.5% of checks today, up 15.1 points from the trailing seven-day average of 81.4%, while landline dropped to 2.2%, down 9.7 points from 11.9%. On the email side, deliverable addresses fell to 59.2% of checks, down 13.4 points from 72.6%, while unclassified addresses rose to 32.1%, up 11.6 points from 20.5%.

Phone line types

19,024 checks

mobile96.5%
landline2.2%
unclassified0.8%
VOIP0.5%

Phone number status

19,024 checks

active95.2%
inactive4%
invalid0.8%

Email deliverability

1,261 checks

deliverable59.2%
unclassified32.1%
risky4.8%
undeliverable3.7%
other line types0.2%

Measured across every completed lookup on the 1Lookup platform for this UTC day. Aggregate only: no customer, organisation or lookup input is published, and any bucket too thin to be anonymous is withheld.

01
W.D. Missouri court holds SMS messages are not 'telephone calls' under TCPA DNC rules
In Rush v. Selectquote Insurance, 2026 WL 2495598 (W.D. Mo. July 30, 2026), the court concluded SMS messages are not calls for purposes of the TCPA's DNC provisions. This adds a W.D. Missouri court to what TCPAWorld describes as a growing majority of courts reaching the same conclusion.
Why it matters: If more courts adopt this reading, businesses texting prospects face a narrower path to TCPA DNC liability than businesses calling them, though the ruling does not address other TCPA provisions that may still apply to SMS.
- TCPAWorld
02
FTC announces 2027 fees for telemarketer access to the National Do Not Call Registry
The FTC announced new fees for telemarketers to access phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry for Fiscal Year 2027, which begins October 1, 2026. All telemarketers calling US consumers are required to download the registry data.
Why it matters: Any business or vendor that pulls DNC data to scrub call lists needs to budget for the new fee before the October 1, 2026 start date to keep list-scrubbing compliant and uninterrupted.
- TCPAWorld
- FTC Press Releases
03
TCPA suit from PLG-linked attorney dismissed for lack of prosecution
A TCPA suit brought by attorneys at a plaintiff's law group was dismissed for lack of prosecution. This follows an earlier report that attorney Gerald Lane admitted to a federal judge he had been subject to 145 orders to show cause for failing to prosecute 145 different TCPA suits filed by his office.
Why it matters: Businesses facing TCPA suits from firms with a pattern of non-prosecution have a documented basis to push for dismissal rather than settling early on cases that may never be actively pursued.
- TCPAWorld

Questions people asked today

Are text messages considered telephone calls under the TCPA's Do Not Call rules?: A growing number of courts say no, most recently a W.D. Missouri court in Rush v. Selectquote Insurance, 2026 WL 2495598 (July 30, 2026), which held SMS messages are not calls for TCPA DNC purposes.
What will telemarketers pay to access the National Do Not Call Registry in 2027?: The FTC announced new fees for Fiscal Year 2027, which begins October 1, 2026, for telemarketers accessing phone numbers on the National DNC Registry. All telemarketers calling US consumers must download this data.
What happened to the TCPA suit tied to attorney Gerald Lane's firm?: A TCPA suit brought by attorneys at the same plaintiff's law group was dismissed for lack of prosecution, following earlier reporting that Gerald Lane had faced 145 orders to show cause for failing to prosecute 145 TCPA suits.
What percentage of numbers checked on 1Lookup came back VOIP on August 27, 2026?: Across 19,024 checks run on the 1Lookup platform on 2026-08-27, 0.5% came back VOIP.

Check your own numbers against this

Why are my calls showing as spam likely? · What share of phone numbers are VOIP? · How many numbers are invalid or disconnected?

Missouri Court Rules SMS Aren't Calls Under TCPA DNC Rules, FTC Sets 2027 DNC Fees

W.D. Missouri court holds SMS messages are not 'telephone calls' under TCPA DNC rules

FTC announces 2027 fees for telemarketer access to the National Do Not Call Registry

TCPA suit from PLG-linked attorney dismissed for lack of prosecution

Questions people asked today

Check your own numbers against this