Eric Goldman:  “I didn’t think there was much dispute as to whether SMS spam falls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, but Judge Gottschall’s order in Abbas v. Selling Source, LLC, tackles this issue and concludes that SMS spam messages are ‘calls,’ under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  Along the way, the court addresses a few other interesting arguments, including defendant Selling Source’s First Amendment defenses.   Abbas allegedly received SMS spam from Selling Source.  Abbas sued Selling Source in state court under the TCPA.  Selling Source removed and filed a motion to dismiss.  The court rejected the crux of Selling Source’s arguments.”