John Oliver Says FCC Not Doing Enough to Tackle Robocalls; Action May Not Be Imminent

“The TCPA docket has become increasingly active in recent months as callers and consumers await the FCC’s decision on key issues,” Mark Brennan of Hogan Lovells told us. “Recent court decisions and the continuing wave of aggressive lawsuits from the plaintiffs’ bar targeting legitimate companies are only adding to the need for real clarity from the commission, and a number of parties are hoping the FCC acts sooner rather than later.”

Last week, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged further action on TCPA to curb lawsuits targeting calls by legitimate companies (see 1903040058). In 2015, O’Rielly and then-Commissioner Ajit Pai raised concerns on an order/ruling they said would encourage rather than cut down on TCPA lawsuits against good actors (see 1506180046).

The FCC is looking at the definition of automatic telephone dialing system (see 1805150014) after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned key parts of a 2015 ruling (see 1803160053). The FCC approved an NPRM last month seeking comment on its Truth in Caller ID Act rules, which industry officials said could complicate work here (see 1902120050).

The HBO segment said more than half of calls could be robocalls next year. “That is a real problem for consumers because you have to use your phone,” Oliver said. Everybody is annoyed by robocalls, he said: “Hatred of them might be the only thing that everybody in America agrees on now.”

Oliver targeted Pai. “Unfortunately, their current chair is this guy, Ajit Pai,” Oliver said. “You’ve probably seen him on this show before alongside his stupid mug.” Oliver called Pai “a goober.” He said the show would robocall Pai’s office until he acts. The FCC didn't comment.

Consumers are eager for the FCC to further clamp down on robocalls, said Maureen Mahoney, Consumer Reports public policy fellow. CR worked with producers of the show on the segment. “I don’t have any inside information” on what’s next, Mahoney told us. Pai has said “robocalls is a top priority for him, but so far we haven’t seen any concrete action,” she said. “It’s important that he listen to consumers who are completely fed up.”

The FCC could help by mandating Secure Telephony Identity Revisited (Stir) and Secure Handling of Asserted information Using Tokens (Shaken) technology, addressing spoofing and requiring carriers to give consumers the ability to block unwanted robocalls at no additional charge, Mahoney said. Many robocalls are from legitimate companies, but many are from scammers “for whom enforcement has not been effective,” she said.

FCC action may not be “imminent,” despite the impression created by Oliver, said David Carter from Womble Bond. Pai encouraged carriers to adopt the Shaken/Stir framework and the FCC clarified wireless carriers can block text messages (see 1812120043), he said. The FCC has also focused on enforcement under Pai, he said.

Pai is looking for “balance,” Carter said. “TCPA has been expanded to types of calls and services that were never envisioned by Congress,” he said. Congress is looking at legislation, he said. “The concern should be unlawful or unauthorized calls.” Many bad actors are also outside the U.S. and hard for the FCC to pursue through enforcement, he said. The robocall issue is more complicated than the HBO report makes clear, he said. If the segment has any effect it would be to encourage Congress to push more pressure on the FCC to address robocalls, Carter said.