Verizon Wireless Hunts Wabbits

February 26, 2009 at 6:27 am PT

Verizon Wireless (VZ) filed a lawsuit against the film company behind “The Velveteen Rabbit,” accusing it of illegal telemarketing practices.

The suit, filed late Tuesday, says Feature Films for Families made nearly 500,000 calls to Verizon Wireless customers from a 917 number. When answered, the caller played a recorded ad or read a script promoting the movie.

Feature Films used autodialers to barrage customers, placing nearly 11,000 calls from the same number in one hour on Feb. 13, the suit says. The Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act includes protections against telemarketers’ use of autodialers, particularly for cellphone subscribers.

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Tagged with: ad, Andrew LaVallee, autodialer, cellphone, Digits, Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, frontpage, movie, script, subscriber, telemarketer, telemarketing, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Wall Street Journal, Verizon Wireless

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