Mobile phone. (Credit: Hanna Vaknin/ Flickr)
A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) to provide relief to telecom customers besieged with “robocalls” passed the House of Representatives by a margin of 429 to 3.
The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide evidence of unlawful robocall violations to the Attorney General. According to Kim, this would strengthen enforcement of current robocall laws aimed at ending the scourge of predatory robocalls.
Additionally, the bill gives consumers the ability to block unlawful calls in a consistent and transparent way, at no extra charge. Wireless carriers would be required to install advanced authentication software such as SHAKEN/STIR at a quicker pace and deploy the systems for customers. The bill would also give American wireless customers more control over calls they consistently receive by ensuring telemarketers get consent before making calls.
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“Today brings us one step closer to a big win for the American people against predatory robocallers,” said Kim. “I’ve heard from our neighbors across New Jersey that they’re sick and tired of these illegal calls, and I’m proud to work with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to pass this bill and bring robocall violators to justice.”
According to the FCC, the agency receives over 200,000 complaints a year from customers receiving predatory robocalls. Another FCC report shows that an estimated 26.3 billion robocalls were made to mobile phones and more than 47 billion were made in total to phones in the U.S. in 2018.
The bill received almost unanimous bipartisan support, as well as an endorsement from Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, as well as Consumer Reports, AARP and US Telecom.
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