FCC Mandates Robocall-fighting Tech Be in Use By End of June 2021 (cnet.com) 20
The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to finalize rules requiring phone companies to use the Shaken/Stir protocol to automatically block calls to fight illegal robocalls. The new rules mandate the use of the technology by all voice providers by the end of June of 2021. From a report: The rules come after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the Traced Act last year. The law, which makes Shaken/Stir compliance mandatory for all voice service providers, directed the FCC to develop rules within 18 months. The FCC has said previously that eliminating the wasted time and the nuisance caused by illegal scam robocalls could save the US economy $3 billion annually.
"Robocall Fighting Tech" - New Anime Series (Score:4, Funny)
When I first saw the subject line I immediately thought of a human decked out in 22nd century fighting gear, ready to take on well, uh, something other than a computer program that makes annoying phone calls.
But, he would look amazingly cool!
wont help (Score:1)
this wont help international calls nor the amount of calls that are registered to multiple numbers i.e. rent 1000 numbers and make 1 call from each... then those numbers get sold on the secondary market...
most calls to europe are from international numbers
Re:wont help (Score:5, Informative)
this wont help international calls nor the amount of calls that are registered to multiple numbers i.e. rent 1000 numbers and make 1 call from each... then those numbers get sold on the secondary market...
The telecom providers know, even for international calls. Robocalls come from a very small set of VOIP providers, and they're well known in the industry. They're not blocked today because it would cost money to block them, so no one bothers. Given a legal mandate to do so, it's a trivial problem.
Re: (Score:2)
" They're not blocked today because it would cost money to block them"
You lose. They are not blocked because the telephone companies make a shitload of money from them.
The problem will be solved by SARS-CoV-2. With any luck it will kill all the Call Center employee's.
Re: (Score:2)
The bill has to go somewhere.
Wait a second... (Score:3)
We really need human volunteers to test out the more fringe vaccines and treatments for Covid19, right?
Well the "National Use the Bastards For Unspeakable Testing Practices" act, would automatically make all people who run or support telemarketing scams instant subjects of any tests we desire!
A few telco executives along with whoever is behind these telemarketing scams (extracted from any country they may be hiding in) being run through a Willy Wonka style experimental wringer, televised on YouTube would do wonders to cut down on spam calls...
Re: (Score:3)
Well the "National Use the Bastards For Unspeakable Testing Practices" act, would automatically make all people who run or support telemarketing scams instant subjects of any tests we desire!
You suck at acronyms. The "New Butt Pee" act is never going to pass.
Re: (Score:1)
You suck at acronyms. The "New Butt Pee" act is never going to pass.
I think sir you misread the sophistication levels of the modern era!
I have my doubts (Score:2)
Include Political Calls Too (Score:4, Insightful)
Can we include political calls like those from my U.S. Representative and political surveys?
Re: (Score:2)
Those are ironically protected by the first amendment as they qualify as political speech.
I don't understand why this is so hard (Score:2)
Oh yeah, the phone companies make money on every call they put through. Dang, we're boned.
Unless of course our Congress Clowns make a law that, for every spam phone call I get, I can charge the phone company $100. For me that's easy enough to prove, every call I get has a phone number. If I can call that number back a
Re: (Score:2)
These asshole collect bribes to allow bad actors to shit all over our phone service to the extent that I don't know anyone that answers a phone call from a number they don't recognize.
I'm sure the congresscritter that let Mr ATT lobbyist (help) draft our current laws will have his buddies fix this next bill as well. Rather than cute names for these laws they should be named after the lobbyist and their biggest employer, as in The Morris Urboned ATT law.
Re: (Score:1)
How stupid is the FCC (Score:1)
Re:How stupid is the FCC (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
The fact that the voice circuit gets switched at all means all the information needed already exists, it may just be distributed instead of being collected at one point. Therefore, fine the immediate upstream telecom provider but provide the ability to discharge the fine by billing the *next* immediate upstream provider. You then let the market discover the untrustworthy parties on its own, not that it has incentive to do so.
Automated Call Screening (Score:1)
Shaken/Stir isn't going to do anything but force the telemarketers to give more money to the telecoms for valid numbers. The real solution is automated call screening, as for example Google Call Screen [cnet.com]. What should be mandated is for telecoms to provide automated call screening as a free feature on every line.
My landline connects to a small box that does automated screening. My phone doesn't ring unless the caller is on my whitelist, or has gone through the screener, which records them identifying themselve