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Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by whyaduck on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @05:07PM (#19157568)
I'm all for requiring businesses to get explicit permission from me before they can make the little box in my pocket buzz and interrupt me.
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by munk-a on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @06:18PM (#19158120)
I'm... not so much, I'd prefer that they be required to register with an organization that can bop them on the head if they abuse it.

I wouldn't want to see statistical surveys, polling and other grey area items here impacted.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by JohnFen on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:39PM (#19158625)
> I wouldn't want to see statistical surveys, polling and other grey area items here impacted.

Since literally everyone I personally know has given up answering calls because of all the spam, I'd say that your "grey area" items are already being impacted.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by michaelt on Thursday February 14, 2019 @05:51AM (#19160971)
Allow me to introduce you to 'push polling' [1] where you disguise marketing as polling.

For example, you "survey" people with questions like "Are you aware that Hello Fresh delivers in your area?" and "Would you be more or less likely to vote for Barack Hussein Obama if you knew he was a Muslim?"

Sadly surveys and polling are already spam, anyone who wants to get rid of phone spam will have to ban nonconsensual telephone polling as well.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_poll

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by garmaine on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @08:01PM (#19158757)
> I wouldn't want to see statistical surveys, polling and other grey area items here impacted.

That was the case before. Political polls and other related things were explicitly exempted.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by dvtrn on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @06:59PM (#19158387)
I'd prefer that they be required to register with an organization that can bop them on the head if they abuse it.

I know the FCC doesn't have express legislative power here, but can't they impose fines or am I mistaken-on either or both?

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by sureaboutthis on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:22PM (#19158518)
The FCC fines television and radio stations for regulation violations.
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by phkahler on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @06:27PM (#19158190)
It should be enough to force the called ID to be valid. Then the crappy people will know you can identify them or even call them back. Removing anonymity should go a long way.
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by faster on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:17PM (#19158479)
It would depend on what constitutes a valid caller ID.

At least some of the robodialer operators programatically check out a block of numbers from a VoIP vendor, make a bunch of calls, then release the numbers. If all they have to do is correctly report the number they're calling from, that's pretty useless. The called party has practically no recourse because the number that called them never accepted inbound calls, and has been disconnected by the time you call it back anyway.

How could 'valid caller ID' be defined so that robocallers can be identified?

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by nneonneo on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:27PM (#19158557)
Valid caller ID - even if it’s to a VoIP vendor’s leased number - is better than the current situation where scammers and spammers can use literally any number they want. At least I can search up a leased number, see complaints, and block them (or flag abuse with my carrier). If I (or my carrier) block them, well, serves that VoIP provider right for leasing their precious numbers out to scammers.

With spoofed numbers, I’ve seen calls appear to come from an FBI office in Virginia, local and state police divisions, state troopers, and random businesses. There isn’t any way to really deal with those kinds of calls - and you can’t reasonably screen them out.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by abhorrence on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:23PM (#19158524)
If the number in caller id is accurate, it provides a decent reporting channel. It’d make it easier for telecom providers to take abuse reports and punish the abusive robodialers, whether by cutting them off or referring them to law enforcement.
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by JohnFen on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:42PM (#19158640)
> It’d make it easier for telecom providers to take abuse reports and punish the abusive robodialers

They simply aren't going to do that unless they're forced by law or regulation.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by srj on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @09:58PM (#19159281)
If the source number is valid that opens up some spam blocklist style options for phone software.
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by ummonk on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @06:39PM (#19158265)
Wouldn’t that just result in orgs making their calls through shell call center services?
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by kd0amg on Thursday February 14, 2019 @10:23AM (#19162503)
This is arguably a step forward, if it means there's someone to subpoena for information about the robocaller.
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by JohnFen on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @07:40PM (#19158630)
> It should be enough to force the called ID to be valid.

Honestly, I'd be utterly stunned if this made any noticeable impact at all.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by TheSoftwareGuy on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @05:26PM (#19157736)
What about individuals though? I think that is the point in question here
Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by _jal on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @06:27PM (#19158187)
Nobody's[1] goal is to stop you from calling your neighbor to tell them they left their garage open or whatever. That's the sort of thing telemarketing astroturfers love to go on about, squirting squid-ink to confuse things.

[1] I'm sure it is someone's.

Re:FCC threatens carriers with 'regulatory intervention' ove... by whyaduck on Wednesday February 13, 2019 @05:43PM (#19157851)
The regulations could have been reworked to exempt individuals using smartphones. I don't think it's that hard to write a reg that makes that distinction.