FCC Cracks Down on Robocalls

Cara_Latham writes "If you want to receive annoying robocalls from telemarketers you will have to opt in. Federal Communications Commission rules now require that telemarketers get your consent before dialing your number. Telemarketers will also have to obtain consent even if they had previously 'done business with' the consumer on the receiving end of a call."

Comments

Text messaging

[Dynedain]

Can we add text messages to this please?

I'm tired of paying per-message to receive spam.

Re:Text messaging

[ackthpt]

Can we add text messages to this please?

I'm tired of paying per-message to receive spam.

I too and sick of my mobile going off to inform me I won a prize or am approved for a loan or some other BS. Do keep in mind these scumbags aren't the sort who will honor any legislation or directive. Mobile carriers should be enabling a crowd-based blocking feature - enough people report a number as robo-calling or scamming and it can be blocked by an opt-in program. (Yeah, too intelligent, hasn't got a chance, but I can dream)

Re:Text messaging

[BenFenner]

I wouls say you could simply disable text messages (entirely!) at the provider level.
But then you get this shit in the mail:

http://www.supercars.net/gallery/132464/1542/873030.jpg



That's right dick-heads. I disabled text messages. All of them. Even the ones from you. It took me three months of calling, but I finally did it. You think I want your spam mail in my mail box?!

Re:Text messaging

[Master Moose]

Glad I don't live in the US - The whole paying to receive calls and messages is unheard of here (NZ) and as far as I am aware, most other countries around the world. . Unless roaming and then I believe universally you are pinged with exorbitant cost.

Re:Text messaging

[Dynedain]

On a smartphone, if you received it, you "opened" it.

And texting back STOP (paying for another message) is probably about as effective as replying UNSUBSCRIBE to an email. Great way for spammers to get verification that your number is legit!

Re:Text messaging

[Dynedain]

I'd love to display text messaging entirely (and have in the past) but people who legitimately try to text me don't get a notification that I have it blocked. Their messages just disappear into the ether.

And I've seen several account verification systems (banks and the like) that require text messages as a out-of-band response channel.

Re:Text messaging

[Anonymous Coward]

Why isn't there a setting to just allow texts from numbers in the address book?

Re:Text messaging

[amRadioHed]

turn ALL texts off?

great solution grandpa. This isn't the 90's anymore, texts aren't just for teens.

Re:Text messaging

[Randle_Revar]

>what, are you a teenager or something? seriously.

I am 29. I didn't text much at all (once in a month was rare for me) until I got a phone with a real keyboard (n900), and started dating. When we are apart (most of the time; we are in different states), my girlfriend and I communicate mostly via sms, then phone calls, then IM, then email.

Re:Text messaging

[swalve]

SMS doesn't work that way.

Re:Text messaging

[HybridJeff]

That depends, if the message is comign from a SMS short code rather than a normal phone number then the carrier could remove the sender in question from their short code program if they sending out spam or fraudulently signing peopel up for premium services. I'm not saying that they necesicarily will, but they do have that ability.

Re:Text messaging

[MagusSlurpy]

The same reason they don't let you block specific numbers from calling you. Because it eats into the carriers' profits if spammers/telemarketers aren't eating up your monthly minute/text/data quota.

What about Slashdot comments?

[MrEricSir]

Make $700/hour working from home no experience required

Reply STOP to unsubscribe

Re:What about Slashdot comments?

[Majik Sheff]

The reply number is a $10.00/month "subscription" a la Jamster, but without the annoying ringtones. Good luck getting your cell carrier to give 2 shits about removing the fraudulent charges.

Re:What about Slashdot comments?

[Ark42]

AT&T **always** has removed text charges I complain about. And I call and complain about a 9 cent charge I didn't want. I don't even have a text plan, and don't text anybody. I keep telling them to block all texts always no matter what, but whenever one shows up on my phone, I get charged for it. Again, it has, fortunately, been super easy to call AT&T and complain, every single time.
Pretty sure they're paying the support staff a lot more money for the time spent on the call to reverse a 9 cent charge. If everybody did this, I'm sure cell companies would lose enough money to get their act together.

Re:What about Slashdot comments?

[bratwiz]

Would be nice if they switch to the method Japan uses; receiving the message is free*, sending costs me.

But Dude! If they did that, it would cost the spammers money to send you all that crap! I mean-- Christ! It would just sink the entire business model. Just think of all those poor, spammers you'd be putting out-of-work. I mean, you know-- not making the victim pay-- that's just un-American! Say, what kind of sick, anti-capitalist, socialist-commie-freak are you anyway? I just bet this is Barack Obama's doing....

Re:What about Slashdot comments?

[Cimexus]

>> Would be nice if they switch to the method virtually every other country on Earth uses; receiving the message is free*

FTFY :)

Re:Bypass login/registration

[Dynedain]

Bahhh... turns out they're using a referral check from Google News, follow the link here to get around it.

Link to WSJ and not FCC?

[bmo]

A paywall?

Are you effing serious, subby?

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/robocalls

--
BMO

Re:Mobile phones

[danlock4]

At least your car doesn't ring with a robocall telling you your phone warranty is nearly expired... you're in the store and suddenly a voice on the store's intercom system announces your license plate number and says, "your car will be towed if you do not shut off its alarm within five minutes; it's been wreaking havoc in the lot for 20 minutes already!"

Re:I'm done with telephones.

[cusco]

VOIP is great . . . until your Internet connection goes down. Our land line has gone down once, for a couple of hours, since 1997. We've lost Internet connectivity for days at times.

Re:more useless rules that they won't enforce

[Black Parrot]

The FCC didn't give a shit three years ago, when the car-warranty scammers were robo-calling every phone number, including cell phones. How many thousand complaints did they get over that one? No, the FCC didn't do jack until the robo-callers called a US senator. That got them shut down.

Thus proving that senators aren't entirely useless.

Canada?

[Dorduan]

Assuming that this is implemented properly in US, does this cover people like me in Canada who are called by telemarketers from US?

Forward it to your carrier's spam address

[Peter Simpson]

For AT&T it's 7726 ("spam" on the keys). They appear to be using the information provided to go after the spammers. Plus, if you forward it, you (and they) have a record so you can apply for a refund of the SMS fees on those messages.

Re:change of heart?

[AngryDeuce]

Half the time the people calling to collect a debt can't even produce proof that they are legally authorized to collect it.

First response to any collections call should always be, "I would like written proof that your organization owns this debt and are authorized to collect it." A lot of the time, you never hear from them again. I'm not gonna come right out and say they're scammer fucks, but it's funny that said proof almost never, ever, shows up...

Re:This won't change anything

[0111 1110]

Verizon land lines already have a whitelisting system. I use it. In fact I wouldn't keep a land line at all without it. Unfortunately the whitelist only allows 10 numbers. They have a blacklist system too and both can be active. Now I only ever get calls from people I know. Occasionally I have to turn it off because I am expecting some commercial oriented call and that's when I am reminded about why I use whitelisting 100% of the time. Cell providers should have the same system. Whitelisting and blacklisting should be standard features in the modern world.

Nice try, but enforcement is key.

[Sponge Bath]

I get robocalls from companies I have no business relation with on my mobile phone, which is also on the do not call list. This is currently illegal. When this happens, I dutifully fill out the forms on the FCC complaint site, with all the details. Afterward I am sent a snail mail letter acknowledging the form. Rinse and repeat, but no changes. I still get robocalls from the same number as the complaint. I'm talking 20 or 30 of complaints over six months.

So this new "tougher" rule is supposed to do what exactly? Nobody is enforcing the existing rules, why make new rules? For good PR, I guess.

They should just outlaw autodialers completly

[jonwil]

They should just make it illegal to use any machine that dials people and plays a recorded message. Anyone wants to reach you (including non-profit organizations, charities, survey organizations, political parties etc), they can employ a bunch of people to ring numbers manually (even if what came down the phone at the other end was a pre-recorded message, if they had to dial the number manually it would be enough to discourage this practice due to the cost of hiring staff to dial)

auto-dialers are one of those inventions the world would be better off without (like the technology Hollywood uses to turn 2D films into crappy-looking near-unwatchable 3D films)