The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

Post by nathancahill » Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 2:08 AM UTC

joecool1029 wrote: post #284

foobarian wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would pay to have a "AT&T Certified" icon on incoming phone calls. Maybe the carriers can set up peering agreements and both AT&T and Verizon work. The vast majority of people I care about are on those carriers and I can forget about the rest. It's very hard to reform the whole system, but you have to start somewhere and this could be how.

> I would pay to have a "AT&T Certified" icon on incoming phone calls. Call verification is already here and rolling out progressively. System is called STIR/SHAKEN. iOS supports it as of 13.something. The UX is terrible though, all you see is a checkmark after the caller in the call log. Android might have a better situation on some phones, this system is carrier dependent. More about it here: https://www.fcc.gov/ca…

Post by markovbot » Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 3:33 AM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #382

onetimeusename wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are slow to act because it is unclear whether it is justified in the law for them to block what they believe is spam or if a customer wants to receive a call. Section 202 of Telecommunications Act details that telecoms cannot discriminate connections so they have been unwilling to block spam if it can lead to breaking the law[1]. The FCC has been trying to change that by rolling out new guidance on what can defi…

They don't have to block anything. Just make sure that any caller id number is validated and registered to the company making calls. I shouldn't be receiving calls from local numbers that are actually Indian call centers threatening that the police are on their way unless I pay my IRS bill with iTunes gift cards. Services like twilio avoid this easily by simply requiring me to purchase the callback number or at least…

Post by closeparen » Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 5:11 AM UTC

nobodyandproud wrote: post #95

ravenstine wrote: post #42

I see people here saying that spoofed numbers is the problem. Maybe it's a big part of it, but at the end of the day, the phone companies are complicit with the criminals because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack. These crooks make millions , of calls every year. My first employer was apparently making robocalls, though none of us were aware of it(there was a call center w…

Yup. It’s amusing to see people think there is some hard technical problem here. Tie the problem of robocalls to the telcos losing money, and this problem will solve itself in months.

Post by sytelus » Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 5:46 AM UTC

codexon wrote: post #227

ravenstine wrote: post #42

I see people here saying that spoofed numbers is the problem. Maybe it's a big part of it, but at the end of the day, the phone companies are complicit with the criminals because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack. These crooks make millions , of calls every year. My first employer was apparently making robocalls, though none of us were aware of it(there was a call center w…

> because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack The problem here is that the origin can be spoofed. You are imagining a system where a telco like T-Mobile connects the caller directly to you. That's not how it works. The connection chain could look like this. bad caller 111-1111 -> A -> B -> C -> T-Mobile -> you 999-9999 All T-Mobile knows is that 111-1111 is calling 999-9999…

Post by laGrenouille » Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 7:00 AM UTC

technotarek wrote: post #361

Diesel555 wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Are telecom companies not realizing how much they are hurting themselves" After seeing cable companies fail to get into the internet, I'm convinced companies try to stop progress instead of embracing it. They don't see progress as an opportunity, but rather as a threat. They don't realize how much they are hurting themselves. I read an interesting article on here about the rise of the cell phone camera, the amount o…

Somewhat related, can anyone explain why in the world Fox would allow the entire World Series to be sponsored by YouTube Live? They have to be a competitive threat, no?