The FCC has stepped up the fight against robocalls by adopting more and more measures to fight the scourge. The latest set of rules includes limiting non-telemarketing calls made to residential phones. Non-commercial, commercial and nonprofit organizations are now only permitted to call residential numbers three times within 30 days and are required to allow recipients to opt out. The FCC did not limit non-telemarketing calls before this change. Now the commission has introduced new rules for voice service providers. These providers are now required to respond to traceback requests for illegal call sources from the commission and from law enforcement.
Phone carriers are also required to investigate illegal calls identified by the commission and to take steps to mitigate those calls if they come to the same conclusion. The FCC rules demand carriers “exercise due diligence in ensuring that their services are not used to originate illegal traffic.” Aside from implementing those new rules, the FCC has expanded safe harbors for providers to eliminate legal liability for network-level call blocking. That said, providers must only target calls that “highly likely to be illegal, not simply unwanted” and must use human oversight.
In an effort to be more transparent, the FCC requires providers to notify callers if they’ve been blocked. Phone companies must also provide subscribers with a list of blocked calls upon request and provide a status update on call blocking disputes within 24 hours.
Breaking it down
This is a valiant and ongoing effort. But it is a battle that is not likely to end in victory but more likely a stalemate. The way these calls originate is over the internet. That means they could be coming from anywhere in the world. These calls enter the country via the internet and into the phone networks. Its almost impossible to stop. Yes, the FCC can impose new rules but its not likely to have much impact without an effective technical fix to the problem. There must be some technology that forms a gateway or method that identifies the source and volume of the call much like the way a website can detect a DDoS attack. When a DDoS attack occurs the website owner has a plan in place to block the source of the attack. The same needs to happen with robocalls. The share the same technology profile; a million signals from one source. That is a simplified solution and I am not sure it will work. But we have to try something. Kudos to the FCC for at least putting up a fight!
