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An appeals court threw out part of a Federal Communications Commission regulation aimed at reducing automated telephone solicitations, weakening a 2015 effort to squelch the scourge of so-called robocalls.
The rule was aimed at calls generated by auto-dialing devices. But its language was too broad, and could be construed to prohibit calls from any smartphone, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in a unanimous opinion Friday.
[...] Unwanted calls, including robocalls, are the top consumer complaint to the FCC, with more than 200,000 such comments received annually, according to the agency. Some private analyses estimate that U.S. consumers received about 2.4 billion robocalls per month in 2016.
[...] Because under the FCC's rule "any uninvited call or message from the device is a statutory violation," regular smartphone users could face a $500 penalty for calls -- such as inviting a person to a party -- without first getting consent to contact them, the judges said.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 3, Touché) by NotSanguine on Saturday March 17 2018, @07:41PM (5 children)
I've been following this case very closely and was getting really worried that a ruling the other way.
If they had, I would, sadly, no longer receive calls from fine folks over at 'Cardmember Services' who are just so diligent at wanting to reduce my interest rates, or those wonderful customer service reps at Mariott Hotels who (even though I never stay at their properties) who just have to give me a free vacation.
And that conscientious Steve (or is it Bob?) leaving voicemails (not sure why the phone doesn't ring though) reminding me about the $250,000 credit line that we talked about last week (my memory is so bad, I never remember those conversations -- so glad he's there to remind me) and what a great deal it would be for me.
Those hateful people at the FCC just want to destroy business in this country. It's especially heartening to know that these folks know what a bunch of anti-business jerks the FCC are, given that they ignore (and rightly so) the Do Not Call List and flout it in the face of state attorneys general.
The courts are siding with the good guys for once. And we'll all be better for it!*
*This message sponsored by and © 2018, Direct Marketing Association. All rights reserved.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 17 2018, @10:29PM (4 children)
too bad i can't block all that shit on my home phone. there is no app for that. and like hell I will pass it through google or something because of someone elses idea of how to get privacy installed. i bought a phone that i can add numbers to a block list, but there is no actual white list for it... so that block list is getting pretty full
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday March 17 2018, @10:40PM
We here at the Direct Marketing Association understand your concerns.
Which is why we give you the opportunity to opt out of calls from us.
Please post your name, address (no PO boxes please) and telephone number here and on any other sites that you frequent.
We will be sure to remove you from all mailing/calling lists around the world. Believe me, it will be the best blocking ever in the world.
We here at the Direct Marketing Association *love* you and only want to make your life better!*
©2018, Direct Marketing Association. All rights reserved.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by shipofgold on Sunday March 18 2018, @10:47PM (2 children)
Actually, the app for that is Asterisk which runs nicely on Raspberry Pi. I setup Asterisk and an ATA to filter the incoming calls. Asterisk is configured to send whitelisted numbers through to ring the house phones. Numbers not in the whitelist get a message "Please press 9 if you are not a computer".
A simple captcha that works like a charm...robo callers never press 9. If they don't press 9 they go to voicemail so I don't miss anything like school recordings. Of course this will stop working if the unwashed masses start doing this as robo callers will get voice recognition and figure it out.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Monday March 19 2018, @08:39AM
Would you be able to expand on this - particularly the hardware part?
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday March 20 2018, @12:24AM
Absolutely a good idea. What's more, you can download an ISO of an Asterisk implementation [asterisk.org] and configure it for your needs. Easy peasy. Hardware requirements/recommendations [voip-info.org] are also available.
Unfortunately, that doesn't help with *mobile* phones. Granted, you can set up white [google.com] (and black) lists on mobile phones, but it's still annoying to have deal with that bullshit.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr