Telecommunications Regulatory Board v. CTIA-The Wireless Ass'n, 752 F.3d 60

Background

Puerto Rico enacted the Registry Act (Dec. 27, 2011) requiring sellers of prepaid mobile phones to collect buyer photo ID and to register purchaser name, physical/postal address, alternate number, phone number, make/model/serial with the Telecommunications Regulatory Board within 30 days; penalties up to $25,000 per violation.
The Board was to maintain a registry and provide information to law enforcement on presentation of a police complaint or court order; sellers of existing prepaid units had 30–60 days to provide lists.
CTIA (industry trade association for wireless carriers) sued Puerto Rico officials seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing the Registry Act is preempted by the federal Stored Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701–2712.
The district court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss and granted CTIA a permanent injunction, finding the Registry Act conflicted with the SCA’s prohibition on divulging subscriber records to governmental entities without proper process (e.g., subpoena, court order, or warrant).
On appeal, Puerto Rico argued the SCA protects only transactional communications records, not basic subscriber information collected at sale (name, address, phone number), and thus no conflict exists. The First Circuit reviewed preemption de novo.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (CTIA)	Defendant's Argument (Puerto Rico)	Held
Whether the Registry Act is preempted by the SCA	SCA prohibits providers from divulging "a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber" to governmental entities without requisite process; Registry Act compels exactly that disclosure without subpoena	SCA protects only communications/transactional records; basic subscriber info at point-of-sale is not covered, so no conflict	Held: Preempted — SCA text and §2703 show subscriber name, address, phone, length/type of service are covered and require subpoena; Registry Act conflicts and is preempted
Whether statutory headings and structure limit SCA to transactional data	N/A (CTIA relied on statutory text)	Titles and structure show Congress meant "records concerning electronic communication service" to mean transactional communications records, not untethered subscriber data	Rejected: Cannot override clear statutory text; headings do not narrow §2702/§2703’s plain language
Whether legislative history or practice (e.g., telephone directories) undermines preemption	N/A	Legislative history and directory practice show disclosure of basic subscriber info is commonly available and not intended to be restricted by SCA	Rejected: Legislative history corroborates text; FCC exemption for mobile directories and §2702’s distinction between governmental and non-governmental disclosure addressed; does not authorize compelled disclosure to government without process
Scope/severability of injunction (whether only part of Act could be saved)	Sought full injunction against enforcement as applied to members	Defendants argued full Act needed to be applied for effectiveness; did not press severability on appeal	Court affirmed district court’s permanent injunction enjoining enforcement of the Registry Act in toto (defendants did not pursue severability on appeal)

Key Cases Cited

Weaver's Cove Energy, LLC v. R.I. Coastal Res. Mgmt. Council, 589 F.3d 458 (1st Cir.) (standard for de novo review of preemption findings)
SPGGC, LLC v. Ayotte, 488 F.3d 525 (1st Cir.) (discussion of preemption types)
Barnett Bank of Marion Cnty., N.A. v. Nelson, 517 U.S. 25 (U.S. 1996) (conflict preemption principle)
Mass. Ass'n of Health Maint. Orgs. v. Ruthardt, 194 F.3d 176 (1st Cir.) (presumption against federal displacement of state police powers)
Antilles Cement Corp. v. Fortuño, 670 F.3d 310 (1st Cir.) (preemption test applied to Puerto Rico law)
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (U.S. 1997) (limits on judicial rewriting of statutes)
Keene Corp. v. United States, 508 U.S. 200 (U.S. 1993) (text controls over omitted phrase arguments)