Verizon Wireless filed a lawsuit to stop a Utah-based telemarketing company from calling its customers and employees to advertise the upcoming movie, "The Velveteen Rabbit."
The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., alleges Feature Films for Families illegally used an autodialer to call Verizon Wireless customers on behalf of a company called Family 1 Films, based in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit states that over 10 days in early February, nearly 500,000 calls were made to Verizon Wireless customers and employees from the telephone number 917-210-4609. When customers answered these calls to their wireless phones, they heard either a prerecorded voice message or an individual reading a script promoting the anticipated release of the film.
"Telemarketers continue to harass our customers and impinge on their privacy, often using illegal methods including autodialers," said Steven Zipperstein, vice president and general counsel of Verizon Wireless, in a statement. "Whatever their methods and whatever their product, these unlawful telemarketing calls are an annoyance to our customers and invade their privacy."
The lawsuit alleges violations of the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal to use an autodialer to make calls to wireless phones, as well as state fraud and privacy laws. Verizon Wireless also filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the defendants from making these calls.
In 2005, Verizon filed suit against Intelligent Alternatives, a Sorrento Valley marketing firm for soliciting a million of Verizon's customers.