How many unwanted pre-recorded and/or autodialed calls have you received so far this year? Judging by the numbers in one new report, we’re guessing it’s a lot. [More]
robocalls
25 Attorneys General Agree: Close Government’s Robocall Debt-Collection Loophole
By 2.11.16
Last fall, with a government shutdown looming, Congress passed an emergency spending bill that also included a lovely little loophole giving the federal government the authority to make obnoxious, pre-recorded and/or autodialed debt-collection robocalls. Some lawmakers quickly introduced legislation intended to correct that anti-consumer move, but it’s been stuck in committee since. This week, attorneys general from two dozen states and District of Columbia called on the Senate to finally consider this legislation. [More]
Dish Network Could Pay $24B In Fines For Millions Of Illegal Telemarketing Calls
By 1.21.16
When a company hires a telemarketing contractor, and that company makes telemarketing calls on your behalf, should you be held responsible for what that contractor does? This week, a trial in federal court began against Dish Network, where the feds and four state governments are seeking more than $24 billion in fines against the satellite TV company to resolve accusations that it made illegal calls. [More]
Time Warner Cable Integrates Robocall-Blocker Into Telephone Service
By 1.14.16
While traditional phone companies have been reluctant to integrate available call-blocking technology to help consumers avoid unwanted “robocalls,” some six million Time Warner Cable customers will now be able to turn on a free feature that can cut down on these telephonic annoyances. [More]
Warner Bros., BMG, Rightscorp Agree To Pay $450K For Using Robocalls To Hassle Alleged Music Pirates
By 1.12.16
Even when you’ve been accused of violating the copyright of a major music publishers, you still have the right to not be harassed by unsolicited pre-recorded calls demanding payment for those supposed violations. That’s why Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and other defendants have agreed to pay out $450,000 to thousands of alleged music pirates. [More]
Health Insurer Apologizes For Robocalling Senior Citizens In The Wee Hours Of The Morning
By 12.30.15
There’s perhaps nothing more annoying than rushing to answer a ringing phone than to find a robot on the other end. But when that robocall is coming in at three in the morning? That’s an annoyance 10,000 senior citizens went through when a Massachusetts health insurer said it accidentally robocalled customers between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. this week. [More]
More Than 500,000 People Ask CenturyLink To Help End Robocalls
By 12.15.15
Even though the FCC has said that landline operators can offer robocall-blocking technology to their customers, many of them have so far chosen to not do so. That’s why our colleagues at Consumers Union hand-delivered a petition with more than 500,000 signatures to CenturyLink this morning, hoping to drive home how fed-up consumers are with these unwanted interruptions. [More]
AT&T, Verizon Tell FCC That They Should Be Able To Block Texts When They Want To, For Your Own Good
By 11.25.15
Texting isn’t just the purview of teenagers. Bulk texting is a huge business. Sometimes they’re scam spam in about the same category of usefulness as emails from a wealthy Nigerian prince who doesn’t exist, granted, but sometimes they’re useful blasts from businesses or public entities that let a whole bunch of people get useful information quickly in a low-bandwidth way. But what they aren’t, quite yet, is clearly regulated. A case moving through the FCC right now, however, may change that. [More]
Phone Companies Can Filter Out Robocalls, They Just Aren’t Doing It
By 11.17.15
Even in an age when everyone has Caller ID on their cellphones and landlines, when more than 200 million numbers are listed on the national Do Not Call Registry, our phones are still inundated with unwanted auto-dialed and prerecorded calls. And though state and federal regulators regularly shut down illegal telemarketing operations, it can seem like a game of Whac-A-Mole, with new robocallers popping up to replace the old ones. [More]
Senators Introduce Bill To Close New Robocall Debt-Collection Loophole
By 11.4.15
Last week, the president signed an emergency budget bill that kept the government from shutting down, but which also quietly exempted federal agencies from an important consumer protection against automated debt-collection robocalls. A new piece of legislation hopes to turn back the clock on that mistake by closing that recently opened loophole. [More]
Senators Say They Will Try To Reverse Robocall Exemption For Federal Debt Collectors
By 10.29.15
Right now, the U.S. Senate is going through process of discussing the bipartisan budget proposal intended to prevent another federal shutdown. It’s a bill that, by most accounts, is destined to pass without removal of a provision that gives the federal government — and only the federal government — the permission to place unwanted, automated robocalls for the purposes of debt collection without the recipient’s permission. But some lawmakers are pledging to do something after the budget bill has passed. [More]
Government’s Own Budget Analysis Shows That Allowing Debt Collection Robocalls Is Pointless
By 10.28.15
In response to the news that the bipartisan budget deal currently before Congress includes a loophole that would allow the federal government to make debt-collection robocalls, some might say “Well, if it helps the government get back some of the money it’s due, then maybe it’s a necessary evil.” But the government’s own analysis of the budget proposal currently shows this clause as having no measurable impact on our federal finances. [More]
Federal Budget Proposal Would Allow Government To Robocall Your Cellphone Over Debts
By 10.28.15
Federal law currently prohibits most non-emergency robocalls to cellphones unless the recipient has given their prior express consent to receive auto-dialed calls. But amid the battle over the federal budget, someone has slipped in some language to the budget bill currently before Congress that would exempt government debt collectors from this law. [More]
FCC Now Sharing Weekly Robocall Complaint Data For Use In Building Call-Blocking Tools
By 10.21.15
The FCC has been on a bit of a crusade this year to try and curb the scourge of robocalls, one of consumers’ biggest complaints. To that end, they’re now going to share a new tool to help build weapons for that fight: consumers’ complaints. [More]
Government And Industry Get Together At FCC Workshop To Figure Out How To Kill Robocalls Already
By 9.16.15
Robocalls suck. They have continued to suck for a very long time. Everyone hates them. The FCC has been trying to make them go away for many months now, and to that end they held a workshop today in Washington, DC bringing together regulators, consumer advocates, and industry executives to talk about what everyone can do to make these lousy, often-fraudulent annoyances go away. [More]
Lyft & First National Bank Busted For Forcing Customers To Accept Robocalls & Spam Text
By 9.11.15
As we recently pointed out with the PayPal terms of service, it’s against the law for a company to require that its customers to accept spam text messages and pre-recorded, auto-dialed robocalls. Someone should have forwarded that message on to Lyft and First National Bank. The FCC has cited both companies for forcing their customers to agree to unwanted marketing messages, in violation of federal law. [More]
U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Sues FCC To Stop Efforts To Block Obnoxious Robocalls
By 9.4.15
Consumers hate getting endless robocalls on their landlines and cell phones, and with good reason: they’re incredibly annoying. But they exist for a reason, too: legitimate businesses and scammers alike both find that, to some degree, they work. So when the FCC proposes a rule to let consumers cut back on the annoyance in their lives, businesses are not necessarily thrilled. [More]
Uber Defends Robocalls, Claims They Were Legitimate Political Messages
By 8.20.15
A week after Uber was sued for allegedly spamming non-customers with text messages, the ridesharing service faces another complaint claiming intrusive telephonic behavior. This time, the plaintiff says Uber is violating federal and New York state laws with pre-recorded calls urging consumers to contact their local lawmakers. But Uber says the calls were political in nature, thus exempt from the robocall rules. [More]
