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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday March 07 2020, @01:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the about-time dept.

FCC to require anti-robocall tech after "voluntary" plan didn't work out:

Phone companies would be required to deploy technology that prevents spoofing of Caller ID under a plan announced today by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai.

Pai framed it as his own decision, with his announcement saying the chairman "proposed a major step forward... to protect consumers against spoofed robocalls." But in reality the FCC was ordered by Congress and President Trump to implement this new rule. The requirement on the FCC was part of the TRACED Act that was signed into law in December 2019. Pai previously hoped that all carriers would deploy the technology voluntarily.

"I'm excited about the proposal I'm advancing today: requiring phone companies to adopt a caller ID authentication framework called STIR/SHAKEN," Pai said in his announcement. "Widespread implementation will give American consumers a lot more peace of mind when they pick up the phone." The FCC will vote on the measure at its March 31 meeting.

Previously:
AT&T Ramps Up its Fight Against Robocalls With Call Validation Feature
FCC Approves Plan to Stop Robocalls!
Anti-Robocall Bill Passes Senate
The Robocall Crisis Will Never Totally be Fixed
FCC Pushes Carriers to Implement Caller ID Authentication by 2019
Robocallers "Evolved" to Sidestep New Call Blocking Rules, 35 State AGs Tell FCC


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 07 2020, @02:57AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 07 2020, @02:57AM (#967779)

    It's election season, so the now get tough FCC says you have to implement shaken/stir.
    Say a perfect implementation is done.
    The call recipient can absolutely know who called them.

    You are on the do not call list, you get a call you should not, file a claim, get a $40,000 judgment.
    What keeps the calling company from just vanishing without payment?
    Basically, a game of wac-a-mole.
    Good for a stump speech, but unlikely to stop the calls.

    It would be neat if the judgment collection process worked as well as collecting for somebody originating an old fashioned long distance call.
    The phone companies know how bill for that.
    Given a judgment, the call recipient could first get paid by their service provider, who could try to collect from the caller.
    (Or have an incentive to fix it so the calls don't happen...)
    Such an economic incentive seems more likely to stop the calls than a specific technology mandate.

    With a $10 per call, near automatic judgment, it would make robo calls unprofitable but incidental judgments for accidental calls affordable.
    Or, we could just play this nice game of wac-a-mole.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by toddestan on Saturday March 07 2020, @06:53PM

    by toddestan (4982) on Saturday March 07 2020, @06:53PM (#967950)

    I agree there isn't a lot that can be done about these fly-by-night operations. Even if you track them down you'll find they are just a shell with no assets or anything to go after.

    The obvious solution, if you get a phone call you shouldn't, is to instead allow you to go after the phone companies. If they start getting hit with $40,000 judgements for knowingly allowing spoofed calls on their network, this mess would get cleaned up real fast.