FCC Targeting Robocalls in Order Set for Vote June 6; Regulation Possible

Industry lawyers said the key question for carriers is what liability protections the order will offer them if they let subscribers block calls. Consumer groups questioned whether the rules will go far enough. Many agree that there is no one solution to the problem of the deluge of unwanted calls.

Pai told reporters he has “demanded” that large phone companies implement and Secure Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens (Shaken) and Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (Stir) technology this year. “Now, I’m seeking to encourage adoption of that framework by giving a safe harbor to companies that use it to block unauthenticated calls,” he said. The proposal says emergency “and other vital calls” can’t be blocked, he said.

The FCC is ready to regulate if carriers don’t implement Shaken/Stir, Pai said. “We do stand ready to take action if the companies do not take the steps necessary to protect consumers.” The FCC should be able to provide industry clarity “very quickly in order to allow them to develop these tools very shortly after that,” Pai said. The rules will make clear companies that use Shaken/Stir won’t be subject to liability for blocking calls by default, he said. The FCC is slated to release the draft ruling and FNPRM Thursday.

“For too long the @FCC has wasted time holding workshops and summits instead of holding bad actors responsible,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted. “Today it finally proposes new policies to help block robocalls. I sincerely hope this is not too little, too late.”

Legislation

The House Commerce Committee plans to mark up anti-robocall legislation “soon,” and members of both parties are working on a “consensus bill” that combines elements from a set of seven bills the House Communications Subcommittee examined in late April (see 1904300212), said subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., in an interview.

“What you're going to see a consolidation of some of those bills into one” measure, Doyle said. “This is something that's been bipartisan” in talks with House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., Doyle said.

Walden told us he believes “there's a deal to be had” on a House bill and possible reconciliation of that measure with the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (HR-2015/S-151). That measure is being targeted for Senate passage under unanimous consent (see 1904110066) but currently has the backing of 78 senators. Walden and others are seeking a “safe harbor” provision in a final House bill that would shield carriers if they follow the rules but block a call that isn't actually a robocall. “I've talked to some carriers who are prepared to go very aggressively to shut down robocalls, but the fear is they will block an important call that's not a robocall,” Walden said. There should be a “sweet spot” on a safe harbor.

FCC anti-robocall actions came up several times during House Communications' Tuesday oversight hearing, with Walden and others praising Pai's new proposal (see 1905150061). Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and others were meanwhile critical of what they see as the commission's inaction. “You should form a robocall division and say to the American people 'within X number of months, this is what we will accomplish, and grade us on it,'” she said.

More Sought

Some advocates sought more from the FCC beyond what's coming next month.

“I’m sure that it will move the ball forward and that’s a good thing,” Margot Saunders, senior counsel to the National Consumer Law Center, told us. “But what it does and how it does it and who it would exempt and how consumers are going to pay for it and consequences for overall robocalls or what the response of the callers is going to be, are all questions that we really need to see answered.”

The agency “appears to stop short of requiring phone companies to implement call-blocking tools, at no charge, which we have been calling on the FCC to do for a long time,” emailed Maureen Mahoney, policy analyst for Consumer Union. “To ensure that the call-blocking tools are effective, the FCC should also require the phone companies to implement caller ID authentication technology as soon as possible."

“The key here will be how the FCC will ensure that legitimate calls are not blocked alongside the scam and fraud calls, especially if the consumer is in the dark about the blocking,” said Mark Brennan of Hogan Lovells. “The legal authority for allowing carriers to block calls by default has been a topic of great interest. It will be interesting to see how the FCC addresses that issue.”

“Many voice providers have held off developing and deploying call blocking tools by default because of uncertainty about whether these tools are legal,” the FCC announced: “Allowing default call blocking by voice providers could significantly increase development and consumer adoption of such tools.”

The FCC gets 630 complaints about robocalls every day, Pai blogged Wednesday: “Like me, the American people are fed up with this flood of annoying calls.”

Industry Support

AT&T supports a safe harbor “which will increase the arsenal of tools available to combat calls that are not authenticated,” said Joan Marsh, executive vice president-regulatory and state external affairs. “As the FCC warns, however, there is no silver bullet in this war as scammers continue to find new ways to reach unsuspecting consumers.” Verizon said, “While there may not be a silver bullet that entirely ends these activities, we're fully committed to fighting the scourge of robocalls.”

“We will have another tool that will permit us to protect our customers by stopping illegal robocalls before they reach our customers’ phones,” said Eric Schaefer, senior vice president-broadband and communications services at Comcast Cable. “Unwanted robocalls represent one of the biggest issues facing phone customers, and we’re committed to addressing it, particularly through our leadership in developing and deploying the Shaken/Stir call-verification standard.”

“The wireless industry is committed to combating illegal and unwanted robocalls,” said Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs. “The criminals that are scamming consumers with this flood of illegal robocalls must be confronted by industry and government head-on,” said USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter. “This is a big and bold proposal by the FCC that can bolster our industry’s cutting-edge call blocking and authentication efforts and do something important: stop unwanted calls from reaching consumers in the first place.” NTCA also supported the proposal.

The FTC, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that a U.S. district court in Florida granted summary judgment against two individuals, approved six settlement agreements covering 11 defendants, and entered a default judgment against the remaining seven “officially ending the massive Pointbreak Media robocall scheme.” A year ago, the FTC “charged the Florida-based defendants with operating a telemarketing scam that targeted small business owners with false threats of removal from Google’s search engine and false promises of unique keywords to make the business appear prominently in search results,” the agency said. “The FTC also alleged the defendants wrote themselves $100 checks from over 250 businesses’ checking accounts without the business owners’ advance knowledge, consent, or authorization.”