Judge Rejects TCPA ‘Cramming’ Class Action Settlement

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A proposed Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) text “cramming” class action lawsuit settlement was rejected  by the presiding federal judge in Nebraska because the proposed $3 million class action settlement fund would not be enough to compensate to potential Class of approximately 30 million individuals.

The M-Qube TCPA text cramming class action lawsuit was originally filed in June of last year by lead plaintiff Richard Grier and Cullan & Cullan LLC, a personal injury law firm, against M-Qube and two other mobile phone messaging companies. The TCPA class action lawsuit alleges that M-Qube and other companies “crammed” millions of individuals’ cellphones by charging for cellphone content services,  such as ring tones and alerts, without consumer authorization.

These TCPA violations allegedly were caused when cellphone users clicked on messages sent by M-Qube and the other defendant companies, which would prompt the message receiver to enter their personal phone numbers. This action would allegedly give the number to M-Qube and other companies which would then inform wireless phone providers that the cellphone consumers had subscribed to a content service. The consumers would subsequently be charged for these services on their phone bills, thus “cramming” the cellphone bills.

This is the second time during the course of this TCPA lawsuit that U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Battalion has refused the proposed text cramming class action settlement based on arguments from opposing Class Members that M-Qube’s proposed class action settlement fund could not possibly resolve all claims filed under the TCPA lawsuit.

The three defendant companies, M-Qube, Mobile Messenger Americas Inc., and CF Enterprises Pty. Ltd., proposed to pay $60-$100 for each unsolicited text message until the amount of settlement paid out to Class Members reached $3 million. Many Class Members found that this proposed class action settlement would not be enough to fully compensate every potential Class Member.

According to Battalion’s denial of the M-Qube text cramming class action settlement, “the size of the proposed class is out of proportion to the amount of settlement. The settlement fund of three million dollars for text messages appears inadequate to compensate the millions of people allegedly harmed by the defendants’ conduct.”

In M-Qube’s proposed settlement for this TCPA class action lawsuit, the companies also agreed to an injunctive relief to require M-Qube to end all text messaging programs operated through phone carriers Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

The M-Qube TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Cullan & Cullan LLC v. M-Qube et al., Case No. 8:13-cv-00172, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.

UPDATE: The Mobile Content Text Spam Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim. 

UPDATE 2: August 2017, Top Class Actions viewers who filed valid claims for the Mobile Content class action settlement began receiving checks worth as much as $130. The checks have been trickling in, so if you filed a claim keep checking your mailbox because settlement checks are on their way.

What is The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)?

In 1991, the U.S. Congress passed the TCPA into law with the intention of restricting telephone marketing and soliciting. The TCPA pays special attention to companies’ use of automated and robocall equipment to contact current, past, and potential consumers. These laws are not just limited to over-the-phone voice messages, but also restrict the use of text messages or text message spam sent to consumers without their consent.

According to the Federal Communications Commission:

“The TCPA and the FCC’s rules ban many text messages sent to a mobile phone using an autodialer. These texts are banned unless (1) you previously gave consent to receive the message or (2) the message is sent for emergency purposes. This ban applies even if you have not placed your mobile phone number on the national Do-Not-Call list of numbers telemarketers must not call.”

Many individual consumers allege that certain businesses like M-Cube have violated TCPA regarding text-spam messages. Every day, more and more consumers join TCPA class action lawsuits to seek justice and punitive damages against companies who allegedly violated TCPA law.