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Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
The robocall crisis will never totally be fixed
Years into the robocalling frenzy, your phone probably still rings off the hook with "important information about your account," updates from the "Chinese embassy," and every bogus sweepstakes offer imaginable. That's despite promises from the telecom industry and the US government that solutions would be coming. Much like the firehose of spam that made email almost unusable in the late 1990s, robocalls have made people in the US wary of picking up their cell phones and landlines. In fact, email spam offers a useful analogy: a scourge that probably can't be eliminated but can be effectively managed.
Finding the right tools for that job remains a challenge. The Federal Trade Commission has had a strong track record in its 140 robocall-related suits, including a recent victory at the end of March that targeted four massive operations. Bipartisan anti-robocalling legislation is gaining traction in Congress. Apps that flag or block unwanted calls have matured and are solidly effective. And wireless carriers—in part facing pressure from the Federal Communications Commission—have increasingly offered their own anti-robocalling apps and tools for free.
Yet the number of robocalls continues to hit new highs. The anti-robocalling company YouMail estimates that March 2019 saw 5.23 billion robocalls, the highest volume ever. And other firms recorded similar highs. But those numbers don't take into account calls that were successfully blocked. A more useful measure might be the number of complaints filed per month to the FCC and FTC, which remained mostly static in 2018 and the beginning of 2019.
"Even though we're at an all-time high, there's some good news," says YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. "The numbers may be creeping up a little bit, but the situation seems to be mostly stable at this point. We have not turned the corner, but maybe the corner is in sight."
In fact, some consensus has emerged about where that corner is. Industry groups led by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions have been working since 2016 on a pair of standards, dubbed "STIR" and "SHAKEN," that will be used across landline, mobile, and VoIP carriers to cryptographically authenticate the source of calls. Basically, this means that the "spoofed" phone numbers robocallers rely on to ramp up their call volume—also the reason so many robocalls appear to come from your area code—will be easily flagged as untrustworthy.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10 2019, @06:51AM (4 children)
Well, of course not, too many loopholes in the law. If this congress doesn't write a better law, they should be voted out next year, all of them, they can't be trusted. Time to start from scratch. It can't make anything worse. If we don't send a message, nothing will improve.
(Score: 5, Informative) by driverless on Wednesday April 10 2019, @07:21AM
It's not loopholes in the law, it's that, like the GFC, not only does no-one involved in the process have any motivation to "fix" it, they have strong financial motivations to perpetuate it for as long as possible. For example the terminating network makes money from terminating incoming calls, so they get paid for robocalls. The originating network also makes money for originating calls, so they get paid for robocalls. The intermediate carriers get paid for carrying the calls, so they get paid for robocalls. It would be against the financial interests of everyone involved except the end-user receiving the calls to take any measures at all to prevent them.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Dr Spin on Wednesday April 10 2019, @07:49AM (1 child)
There is a clear and present case for nuking from high orbit, although it is far from clear whether the target is congress, the telcos, or the callers. Perhaps all of them is the safest option.
Here in the UK they only call landlines. I ask for their name, company and phone number so I can call the Information Commissioner's office to report them. They hang up, but
for the people who offer to insure my white goods - they call back next month anyway.
The PPI people have taken to sending letters instead. The estate agents push flyers through the door.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10 2019, @10:03PM
We have to "nuke" congress in order to elect people that will write proper law or be voted out the following election. Our problem is the voters' lack of interest in seeking out qualified candidates. They just do whatever they are told by mass media, reelect 95% of the crooks, and bitch at the people that point it out (kill the messenger). So, here we are... The source of the problem is in front of our nose (in the mirror), but we are in denial, blaming everybody else for our problems. These are psychological problems, not political.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 10 2019, @08:02AM
Its the Robo-government, stupid!