Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Saturday November 24 2018, @01:13PM   Printer-friendly

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

FCC’s proposed robotext crackdown could block legal messages, critics say

The Federal Communications Commission says it is giving cellular carriers added authority to block text messages, saying the action is needed to protect consumers from spam or robotexts. But critics of the plan note that carriers are already allowed to block robotexts and worry that the change will make it easy for carriers to censor political texts or block certain kinds of messages in order to extract more revenue from senders.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's announcement acknowledges that carriers are already allowed to block illegal robotexts. Pai did not promise new consumer-friendly blocking services; instead, he said his plan "allow[s] carriers to continue using robotext-blocking and anti-spoofing measures to protect consumers from unwanted text messages" (emphasis ours).

Despite that, Pai is proposing to classify text messaging as an information service, rather than a telecommunications service. That's the same legal classification that Pai gave to home and mobile broadband services as part of a December 2017 vote to deregulate the industry and eliminate net neutrality rules. The FCC has not previously ruled on whether text messaging is an information service or a telecommunications service.

An FCC vote on Pai's plan is scheduled for December 12.

[...] Public Knowledge yesterday called Pai's plan "a great big gift basket to corporate special interests at the expense of American consumers."

[...] Pai argued in a blog post that changing text messaging from its current un-classified status to a Title II telecommunication service "would dramatically curb the ability of wireless providers to use robotext-blocking, anti-spoofing, and other anti-spam features." Rejecting Title II and settling on the information service classification for text messaging would "remove regulatory uncertainty, and empower providers to continue finding innovative ways to protect consumers from unwanted text messages," Pai wrote.

[...] Pai's information service proposal was accompanied by another measure designed to reduce robocalls. Pai is proposing a "reassigned number database... [that] would help legitimate callers know whether telephone numbers have been reassigned to somebody else before calling those numbers," he wrote.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Sunday November 25 2018, @07:02PM

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 25 2018, @07:02PM (#766236) Journal

    So close to 100% agreement......but....
    .

    It's one thing when you've got actual people making the calls, but quite another when you can crank out hundreds with minimal cost.

    .
    You missed something here. They have hordes of volunteers that send the political texts for them on demand, and even apps that coordinate the process, so each individual may send only a few texts. Cost remains minimal ('volunteers') and they are sent individually.
    So I'll suggest one little adjustment - that we just don't want these texts unless we opt-in period.

    --
    В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2