Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 prohibits certain practices involving telephone equipment. The law restricts the use of automated dialing systems and artificial or prerecorded voices for commercial purposes. It also requires the Federal Communications Commission to implement regulations to protect residential telephone subscribers' privacy rights, including the establishment of a national database of numbers that object to receiving telephone solicitations. Violators may face civil penalties and damages, and states may bring civil actions to enforce the law. The law took effect one year after its enactment.