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FCC Gives Phone Companies More Authority to Block Robocalls, ‘Scourge of Civilization’

FCC Gives Telephone Companies More Authority to Block Robocalls

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Communications Commission authorized phone companies to automatically identify and block unwanted robocalls, acting against what its chairman calls “the scourge of civilization.”

The agency on a 5-0 vote made clear that carriers can act to squelch the stream of robocalls that number in the billions, and rank as a top consumers complaint to federal agencies. Companies can use analytics that home in on sources that emit large bursts of calls, or that place calls of brief duration.

Americans of all persuasions “are sick and tired of being bombarded by unwanted robocalls,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. “We hear you and we are on your side.”

Experts warn that nuisance and illegal callers slinging bogus tax bills and insurance schemes might still find a way to get through. Calls originating from overseas could present a technical challenge. Phone companies won’t be required to take advantage of the call-blocking systems that the FCC is encouraging, and consumers could face fees for using them.

The goal is to blunt the onrush of robocalls to home and mobile phones -- 4.7 billion in May, out of roughly 25 billion in the U.S. so far this year, according to an estimate from YouMail Inc., a closely held company that offers call-blocking.

Callers are supposed to get prior consent before telephoning land lines with a recorded or artificial voice, or before calling mobile phones with automatically dialed or artificial voice messages, according to the FCC.

The do-not-call rules don’t apply to political organizations, pollsters and survey takers, according to the FCC.

The FCC said phone companies can conduct call-blocking without gaining permission from subscribers. That’s expected to lead to wider call-blocking, since many consumers haven’t chosen to participate in existing call-blocking programs.

Business groups before the vote cautioned that the call blocking may not distinguish illegal telemarketing and scams from legitimate calls placed once they have consent from a subscriber.

To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman

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