https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/16/18098415/robocaller-congress-fcc-penalities-traced-act
The TRACED Act, sponsored by Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), would dramatically increase the penalty per robocall to up to $10,000. Previously, violators were charged with up to $1,500 per call. Currently, the Federal Communications Commission can only prosecute violators over inauthentic calls that were placed in the past year. This bill increases that time frame to three years. In previous letters to the senators, the commission said that "even a one-year longer statute of limitations for enforcement. . . would improve the Commission's enforcement efforts against knowing and willful violators."
Earlier this year, the FCC inflicted a $120 million fine on a robocall kingpin. It was one of the largest fines ever implemented for robocall violations, and it signified that the federal government would prioritize lessening the burden of these calls on consumers. This bill generally gives the FCC more power to act on these calls, and this new power has the potential to dissuade others from placing them.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:17PM (4 children)
Time for some hanging and flogging!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:23PM
Don't worry ! The free market will fix it !
Oh, wait...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:37PM (2 children)
The phone spammers are often abroad, connecting via Internet, and these laws cannot touch them. It's hard to even investigate those call centers to figure out who is the boss.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by captain normal on Sunday November 18 2018, @12:10AM (1 child)
Actually the tel-cos do know exactly where these calls come from. If it's from the internet, a call still has leave a trace in the switching network mainly for billing purposes. Virtually all providers have complete records of all calls to and from each and every account. It is the providers fault for passing inauthentic calls out to the customers. Some big fines and some XXOs in jail and all this would stop.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @12:21AM
No, it is the governments fault for making it illegal to stop it.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/10/11/0347213 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:24PM
Previously we read that the telcos would be blocking this (I would quickly switch my provider to one who did), but there was some FCC regulation preventing them from doing so. So this "solution" seems unnecessary and inappropriate. Instead get rid of or modify the problematic regulation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:54PM
* excludes calls made on the behalf of politicians, political parties, political organizations, firms doing research or lobbying for political action committees, and any company with a state or federal legislator (or family member) on the board of directors.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Saturday November 17 2018, @10:36PM (3 children)
More than likely, the only reason why our do nothing congress critters are doing anything at all about this is that their personal phones are being impacted by these robocalling asshats.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @10:43PM
A tactical error for the robo callers to not have a not call list for congress members
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday November 18 2018, @12:14AM (1 child)
But hey, look on the bright side. At least a few D and R congress critters are starting to work together for a change.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @03:10AM
What gives you the impression that they aren't working together when the feign disagreement? Or are you one of those guys who doesn't know the guy winning at 3 card monty played on a cardboard box in Harlem, happens to be the shill?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @12:54AM (2 children)
Anyone want to negotiate?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 18 2018, @12:59AM
Define "ugly" for us. If it doesn't include "cruel and unusual", then it's probably not ugly enough.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday November 18 2018, @09:07PM
Yeah...I too liked that Bruce Willis line from "Fifth Element".
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Sunday November 18 2018, @01:38AM (1 child)
when politicians do the robo-calling it's perfectly fine, reasonable, and hey! First amendment!
Fuck these assholes. I don't want robocalls. I don't want an exception carved out for politicians. I remember, shit, 10? 15? maybe 20? years ago, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was calling me 2-3 times a day for who the fuck knows what. What I remember is fuck off Arnie, I'm sick of your shit.
Oh yeah, how to solve the problem. I get a robocall I get $100 from the person making the call. If that person can't be found then the money comes from the telephone company. Cuz believe me, not only does the phone company know where this call is coming from and have the resources to block it, they're making money by letting it go through. So scorched earth the fuckers. You either solve the problem, or join the buggy whip makers on the pile of companies that couldn't adjust.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @01:59AM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=28629&page=1&cid=763265#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @03:06AM
So basically an excuse for the FCC to start aggregating consumer call records and turning itself into an intelligence agency. Really is there any branch of the federal government left that doesn't buy warrantless data collection and wiretapping services from the carriers?
Fixing this has been trivial for decades. It was a problem that was manufactured by Congress to begin with. Every "get tough on crime" bout of verbal flatulence from the hill just sews a deeper contempt. This is rediculous in its scope, ineffectual in application, and the only plausible rationality behind it is to further turn people against each other.
If you aren't joining a third party, you aren't supporting a two party system.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:25AM
I gladly await the public execution of Rachel from Cardholder Services and her sister, Heather from Account Services.
The world awaits the spectacle of every last Microsoft Tech Support You Are Being Having a Virus turd strung up by their tiny little testicals.
The serene silence ensuing after everyone that robocalls someone just to give them dead air, is locked in to solitary confinement for the rest of their natural and unnatural lives, will be glorious.
When each one of those robotic sounding IRS scambots are torn to pieces, and each piece thrown in to a fire, there will be celebrations and cake will be served!
One day they will catch that happy sounding bitch that knows your name and can repeat it over and over with the exact same inflection and sound artifacts: [Yourname? :)] (Who is this?) [Yourname? :)] (Who.... Is... This?!) ["Oh, you are such a hard person to to get a hold of :) Now let me begin my advertising spiel"]. And when that day comes, with the screaming and tightening of thumb screws, we will show them we are not really as pleasant as the last person they talked to!
Each and every one of those idiots claiming they are doing a "Political Survey" and want to know if I think Donald Trump is doing a good job or not, and then keep calling back every several hours for weeks on end with no way to tell them to fuck their supposed survey, will get their answer in the form of blood inducing whippings - at random intervals with no warning and no way to escape.
But that's not going to happen is it? Congress or whoever is just going to take some more bribes and claim the problem is just soooo hard and they can't do aaaaanything about it.