Technology regulations succeed or fail based upon their ability to regulate an idea. Constant innovation forces legislators to draft statutes aimed at prohibiting the idea of a device, rather than a specific device itself, because new devices with new capacities emerge every day. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal statute that imposes liability based on the idea of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). But the statute’s definition of the device is ambiguous. The FCC struggles to coherently apply the definition to new technologies, and courts interpret the definition inconsistently. Federal circuit courts have split over these inconsistent interpretations. This Note explains the problems associated with the TCPA’s definition and outlines a solution that ensures uniform and workable enforcement of federal rules.

中文翻译：

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意外报废：解读智能手机时代后的自动电话拨号系统

技术法规的成败取决于其规范想法的能力。不断创新迫使立法者起草旨在禁止设备概念的法规，而不是特定设备本身，因为每天都会出现具有新功能的新设备。电话消费者保护法 (TCPA) 是一项联邦法规，它根据自动电话拨号系统 (ATDS) 的理念规定了责任。但是该法规对设备的定义是模棱两可的。FCC 努力将该定义连贯地应用于新技术，而法院对该定义的解释不一致。联邦巡回法院对这些不一致的解释存在分歧。本说明解释了与 TCPA 定义相关的问题，并概述了确保统一和可行地执行联邦规则的解决方案。