The Telecommunications Act of 1996 bans phone carriers from disclosing telephone records unless a customer agrees, with few exceptions. Accusearch ran Abika.com, a website that sold personal data ranging from “romantic preferences” to tax liens. From 2003 to 2006, the site sold phone records with details of incoming and outgoing calls, stopping when it learned a subcontractor may have gotten information fraudulently. 

Four months later, the FTC asked a court to enjoin the sales and make Accusearch return its profits, saying the sales were unfair under the FTC Act. Accusearch lost and appealed, arguing that the Telecommunications Act applies only to telephone carriers, not Internet publishers, and that the FTC has no authority to enforce the Telecommunications Act. Can the FTC act against an Internet company for violating the Telecommunications Act? Why?