House Passes Robocall Bill (Finally)

A bill to tackle unwanted "robocalls" looks likely to become law in the US. It would use a range of approaches to tackle misleading or annoying automated calls.

Robocalls are automatically-dialed marketing (or scam) phone calls - the same calls made by Indian tech support scammers. Using computers to place the call greatly increases the number of homes a company (or scammer) can attempt to phone - and in turn the number of calls the average home is likely to receive.

The House of Representatives has now passed the proposed Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act by an overwhelming 417-3 margin. It now has to pass the Senate, which is highly likely as the current bill is the result of negotiations between politicians in the two houses. There's no indication at the moment that the President would veto the bill. (Source: thehill.com)

Phone Companies To Tackle Number Spoofing

The law would use a broad-based approach to combating the worst uses of robocalls, with different bodies taking different measures.

It starts with phone companies, who would be forced to develop technology to authenticate calls. At the moment one of the biggest problems is robocalls that spoof their origin number, for example using the same area code as the person being called so that they believe it's a local caller. Phone companies wouldn't be allowed to add a separate charge for this service.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would have to develop rules that let phone companies block calls from spoofed numbers. However, it would also have to set-up an appeals process so that genuine callers could get mistaken blocks overturned. The FCC would also have to make a rule that phone users would have the option to opt-out of receiving any call where the caller hadn't authenticated their identity.

One-Ring Scams Under Attack

The law also says the FCC would need to find ways to crack down on "one ring" scams where robocalls hang up after a single ring, the idea being that victims use caller ID to return the call, only to find they've actually dialed a costly premium rate or international rate number.

Meanwhile the FCC, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state officials and industry representatives would have six months to produce joint proposals on tracking the specific problems of robocallers disrupting hospitals. (Source: congress.gov)

As well as the regulatory changes, the law would also mean tougher penalties for illegal robocall activity. Offenders would now face forfeiture notices, meaning their assets could be seized.

What's Your Opinion?

Will these measures be enough? What else could and should be done to tackle robocalls? Is it a smart approach to have multiple agencies tasked with taking action?