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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
The Federal Communications Commission wants to crack down on unwanted "robocalls" and is looking at ways to help consumers block them.
The FCC wants to put an end to annoying unwanted robocalls.
On Thursday, the commission voted unanimously to evaluate a system that would allow phone companies to check if a number calling you is legit. The goal is to deter unscrupulous companies that make these automated calls from "spoofing," or using a fake phone number to trick you into answering their calls.
A call authentication system could help improve third-party apps that allow consumers to block these calls. It could also open the door to phone companies that may want to offer a service to block unwanted calls.
The FCC has already been considering rules that would allow phone companies to block robocalls from unassigned numbers or from numbers that don't exist.
Ridding the world of robocalls entirely is tricky since some legitimate communications are made using automated call technology, such as messages from schools, weather alerts, public utilities or political organizations. Phone companies don't want to block legitimate calls that consumers want to receive.
[...] The FCC has also been stepping up its enforcement of illegal robocalls. Separately, it voted 2-1 to fine a New Mexico-based company $2.88 million for making unlawful robocalls. Last month, the FCC fined a Florida resident $120 million for allegedly making almost 100 million illegal robocalls in a three-month period.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 5, Insightful) by jmorris on Monday July 17 2017, @03:16AM
Well no, they allow it because they really do need to allow it. Many PBX systems and such depend on being able to set the caller id fields. It really does make sense to have caller ID display a different number than the particular number associated with the line making a call in many situations. Calling cards also make use of it, not that they are used a lot these days. You really need to build/work with a system that interconnects to the PSTN before having an informed opinion. Or study a lot of books you probably would never read unless you were planning on doing so. Research the difference between ANI and caller id and what each is used for in the parts of the network other than the end points.
But see my other post, they could fix this anytime they wanted it fixed. They make money from the current situation, they like that money more than the almost non-existent push back from customers and regulators.