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posted by Fnord666 on Friday May 24 2019, @01:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the blessed-silence dept.

On Thursday the US Senate voted to approave a bill strengthening the FCC's powers to address the reviled practice of robocalling.

A bipartisan proposal, the TRACED Act, was introduced by Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Ed Markey (D-MA). If passed, it would raise the fines the FCC is permitted to levy on robocallers, and increase the statute of limitations for bringing those cases. It would also create an interagency task force to address the problem, and push carriers like AT&T and Verizon to deploy call authentication systems like the pending STIR/SHAKEN protocols into their networks.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has repeatedly pushed for carriers to deploy STIR/SHAKEN with little apparent movement, and has indicated that if this is not done the FCC will "have to consider regulatory intervention"

It is estimated that last year alone, approximately 48 BILLION robocalls were placed in the United States.

The TRACED Act, which passed with a vote of 97-1, now moves to the House of Representatives. There it will contend with other anti-robocall bills already waiting for consideration.

Earlier this month, Pai proposed new rules to allow carriers to more aggressively block robocalls.

Hopefully lesson 22 will come to our phones.


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @02:05AM (7 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @02:05AM (#846887) Journal

    Does the law have any teeth? Will the Telcos actually use it? Who gets prosecuted in the next year or so? Does the law actually do us any good?

    I've long ago stopped answering the phone, unless I recognize the number displayed. I just can't be bothered with useless bullshit phone calls.

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  • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday May 24 2019, @08:08AM (1 child)

    by krishnoid (1156) on Friday May 24 2019, @08:08AM (#846976)

    It probably will now, after people have started getting calls saying the Social Security Administration has cancelled their Social Security Number. They'll put up with a lot of stuff, but when you start impersonating the US government itself ...

    • (Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Friday May 24 2019, @12:15PM

      by SpockLogic (2762) on Friday May 24 2019, @12:15PM (#847030)

      Let me know when some CEO goes to jail. Till then ... yawn.

      --
      Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @02:22PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @02:22PM (#847075)

    The telcos would love to use it. Imagine being able to advertise all spoofed numbers are auto-blocked, etc. It is only poorly designed regulations preventing them now. So unless this repeals or overrides those existing regulations I doubt it is qhat we want.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @02:27PM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @02:27PM (#847080) Journal

      I think that you are a little naive. The telcos make money off of those spoofed calls. They are reluctant to shut down a paying customer. They COULD shut them down, and maybe they do shut down a few of the worst of them. But, revenue is revenue, and they aren't turning down free money.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @02:31PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @02:31PM (#847083)

        I would switch in a heartbeat. I cant imagine the robocalls would outweigh the millions of people doing that. Every provider would be forced to offer it

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @05:47PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 24 2019, @05:47PM (#847215)

        I think that you are a little naive. The telcos make money off of those spoofed calls. They are reluctant to shut down a paying customer. They COULD shut them down, and maybe they do shut down a few of the worst of them. But, revenue is revenue, and they aren't turning down free money.

        Exactly, which is why the Senate bill doesn't go anywhere near far enough. And Ajit Pai [shutterstock.com] [may be NSFW] is doing his best to keep the gravy train rolling in.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 24 2019, @05:54PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 24 2019, @05:54PM (#847222) Journal

          The only reason that image might not be safe for work, is my boss would think I took his picture while at work. No cameras allowed, blah blah blah . . .