The Dish Network case: The latest fed-state call for Do Not Call compliance

57,606,609. That’s the staggering number of illegal telemarketing calls a federal judge in Illinois has ruled that satellite TV company Dish Network is liable for.

The Order granting partial summary judgment against Dish is the latest development in an ongoing case filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission and in cooperation with four states -- California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio. The complaint alleges that Dish violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, related rules, and state telemarketing laws. First, the company made outbound telemarketing calls -- or caused calls to be made -- to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The Court also held that Dish violated the entity-specific provisions of the TSR. That portion of the Rule makes it illegal for a business to call a particular number after that person says they don’t want any more calls from that company. In addition, the Court found Dish responsible for 49,738,073 abandoned calls.