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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.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday November 24 2018, @01:54PM (1 child)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Saturday November 24 2018, @01:54PM (#765873) Homepage Journal

    I bought my iPhone 7 last Spring, and it's still running iOS 10.0.1. I think the current firmware is 12 or so.

    Whenever a scammer calls me, the caller ID displayed is "Scam Likely".

    What's truly puzzling though is that every single day for well over a year, I've received calls whose IDs are all over the planet, sometimes they are just a few digits that cannot really be phone numbers. I always answer unidentified callers because they might be potential clients. I never hear anything coming from their end. When that happens I always say, "I can't hear you. Try calling me back." Sometimes that happens with my Mom's phone; she blocks her Caller ID.

    Then the other end hangs up.

    Surely there is some reason?

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2, Informative) by fennec on Saturday November 24 2018, @08:21PM

      by fennec (7053) on Saturday November 24 2018, @08:21PM (#765967)

      Those are the same as one ring scam, the goal is to get you to call back this number and be overcharged for it.

  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Saturday November 24 2018, @02:04PM (4 children)

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Saturday November 24 2018, @02:04PM (#765874) Journal

    Pai is once again screwing the consumer. There is no such thing as a modern vital telecommunication service that deserves government protection, an idea that the Republican Party feels is as outmoded as consumer copper connections. Got it. But already knew it.

    --
    This sig for rent.
    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday November 24 2018, @05:41PM (3 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday November 24 2018, @05:41PM (#765930) Journal

      The man is doing what he was hired to do. We all knew this before the election.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday November 26 2018, @03:24PM (2 children)

        by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday November 26 2018, @03:24PM (#766455) Journal

        Well, Mr. Pai was not hired before the election for starters. But I won't be obtuse and just assume you were referring to Mr. Trump. If you mean that Mr. Trump was hired to screw over everybody and make them feel empowered as it was being shoved in... I seriously doubt the MAGA voters were aware of that. It's not likely the vast majority are still aware of it now.

        If you mean you and I knew that... OK. Hopefully getting the word out, though, will allow others to see through the BS. I think that if either party was elected we'd be seeing the same sort of behavior, and I like to believe I would be pointing it out if it were Wheeler as well. This transcends party ideology and is simply about, "screw you if you're poor," which both parties engage in.

        --
        This sig for rent.
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Monday November 26 2018, @07:32PM (1 child)

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday November 26 2018, @07:32PM (#766563) Journal

          Yeah, ok, he wasn't hired as chief before the election, Obama got him in the door, so this is nothing about Trump except that he promoted him. It is a non partisan issue. He got his job as a representative of the industry. Both sides are pleased with the results, and both sides keep their power in congress. There is no "moral" mumbo-jumbo in this business. That's for the clowns who have to stand in front of the camera to sell the snake oil.

          The *Word* is already out. Nobody gives a shit. *Give me convenience, or give me death*Everything you said still points to the voters. They are the ones that *play along to get along* out of fear, anger, tribalism, whatever rationalization and psycho-babble that can be dreamed up. With so little effort to change it, all the complaints are shallow and hollow, and misdirected. Trump, Clinton, et al, are symptoms. The voters put them there whether they "know it" or not. The focus should be on what they do, regardless of stated motivation. The fact remains, over 96% of the voters vote for business as usual. And each individual has to address it for him/her self.

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 24 2018, @02:30PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 24 2018, @02:30PM (#765879)

    At least legit txts are still allowed, I'm a bit surprised

  • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Saturday November 24 2018, @02:52PM (2 children)

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 24 2018, @02:52PM (#765882) Journal

    ok, i'm pissed off at Pai as much as the next guy over net neutrality.
    .
    but 1) Having just come through election season in the states, yes, i'm good with measures that might -accidentally- block political texts.
    .
    2) I've ranted before about how politicians make no attempt whatsoever to evaluate the consequences of their actions, dont undersatnd basic economics, have no accountability, nor understand cause and effect. Pai is predicting an undesirable consequence of something he is doing and attempting to head it off. FWIW this gives him more potential than most in the political class.
    .
    We shall see.

    --
    В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 24 2018, @04:54PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 24 2018, @04:54PM (#765918)

      My only complaint is that it might "accidentally" block some of those things. They need to purposefully block all of them. There should never have been an exemption made for those kinds of messages without the customer purposefully opting into them.

      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.

      • (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
  • (Score: 1) by Chromium_One on Saturday November 24 2018, @05:22PM

    by Chromium_One (4574) on Saturday November 24 2018, @05:22PM (#765925)

    If Pai is for it, the sane default position is to be against it until more data is in. So far, this is looking like hot garbage.

    --
    When you live in a sick society, everything you do is wrong.
  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Sunday November 25 2018, @02:19AM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Sunday November 25 2018, @02:19AM (#766068) Homepage

    If nothing else, Pai's contributions has cemented his name as a derogatory term, for when no other derogatory term will do. Sometimes, you need a word stronger than asshole, devil, pedophile, neonazi, SJW, faggot, nigger, kiddie fiddler, rapist, cracker, chink, jew. That's when you reach for your trusty "Ajit Pai".

    --
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