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FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

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101–110 of 281 posts

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#101
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or just make callers cover all the costs, Wait, who covers the cost in the US?

In the US, the receiver effectively covers the cost of mobile calls—though it’s a bit nuanced, so apologies for any lack of clarity. You’re essentially paying for incoming calls if you’re on a metered plan, since those minutes get deducted. With most rate plans now being unlimited, this cost is somewhat hidden. In Japan (the only other system I’m familiar with), it works differently: the caller is charged for the rec…

Dang, I never even heard about that. A few years back I read that US people had to pay for incoming SMS. That was already crazy.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#102
On a side note, today and yesterday I've been bombarded with spam calls. Even got one while writing this comment. All of which have my same area code, which is for a location I haven't live at for over 15 years. No voice mail, nothing. It's not even this bad around election time.

Btw, if you haven't already, you can sign up for the FCC's Do Not Call list[0]. While obviously this isn't going to solve everything, it does make it illegal for legitimate companies to call you. Absent this incident, it did appear to have a significant effect in reducing spam calls when I signed up years ago. Also, here's some info about junk mail[1]. It costs about $6 and lasts 10 years.

[0] https://www.donotcall.gov/index.html

[1] https://consumer.ftc.gov/how-stop-junk-mail

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#103

I get relentless text and phone spam calls - both robotic and with humans - from just a few voice over Internet platforms. Bandwidth.com, Neutral Tandem, and ALL the brands associated with Sinch ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinch_AB ) like Inteliquent. Many of these companies got cease and desist orders in the past from the FTC. It didn’t help anything. We need to see them fined, shut down, and executives jailed.

Google voice does operate on bandwidth.com btw.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#104
post #92
post #23

Just kill the phone. It's a terrible anachronism. If you insist on voice you can attach an ogg/mp3 file to your email.

How I imagine you ~~calling~~ emailing the fire department: https://youtu.be/uesx85EHRTo (The IT crowd - Moss Contacts Fire Department)

Sure, put the emergency hotline on the internet. It already is very special and doesn't use the phone network the way other voice calls do.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#105
post #69
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can someone from outside the US make my phone ring? Why can't I opt out of calls sourced internationally? Seems like an easy way to fix the problem. There is no reason for anyone overseas to call me, and if someone US-based does phone spamming, we can prosecute them.

An easy way to "fix" the problem for closet dwelling US nerds like us who've decided we don't want to use the telephone anymore. Everyone else in the world isn't like us, and have to actually use their phones to talk to real people everywhere. Pretty much everyone has family abroad, etc... This just isn't a serious suggestion. Which is why this is likely to end up getting rolled back. Surely most of these providers a…

> Pretty much everyone has family abroad

In the US? Most normie people I know barely even know anyone that's visited overseas anywhere other than Canada and Mexico, much less stay connected to family living abroad. Tons of people don't even regularly talk to people outside of state they live in.

Don't get me wrong it's not entirely uncommon and can be common in immigrant communities but outside of that unless you've got wealthy globe-trotting family you probably don't have anyone to talk to overseas. Its something far from "pretty much everyone".

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#106

I get relentless text and phone spam calls - both robotic and with humans - from just a few voice over Internet platforms. Bandwidth.com, Neutral Tandem, and ALL the brands associated with Sinch ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinch_AB ) like Inteliquent. Many of these companies got cease and desist orders in the past from the FTC. It didn’t help anything. We need to see them fined, shut down, and executives jailed.

Shut one down, another pops up in its place.

This is why executives need to be held personally responsible when they direct a company to wilfully, blatantly, and repeatedly disregard laws to the detriment of society. These are people who should be in prison for a time, and barred from serving as an officer of a corporation for more time after that. Eventually people get the message; you don't get to break laws just because you hide behind the name of a company.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#107
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pixel phones. Night and day difference from my wife’s iPhone. Same carrier. It’s simply not an issue.

I have an iPhone and I basically never get spam calls.

Interesting. To be clear I get spam calls but they are rejected or screened automatically. If I look through my call history I can see some them.

There are most certainly other factors at play.

My wife recently switched from a Samsung to a new iPhone which prompted my observation (not a pixel phone of course but still it got worse for her). All anecdata.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#108

On a side note, today and yesterday I've been bombarded with spam calls. Even got one while writing this comment. All of which have my same area code, which is for a location I haven't live at for over 15 years. No voice mail, nothing. It's not even this bad around election time. Btw, if you haven't already, you can sign up for the FCC's Do Not Call list[0]. While obviously this isn't going to solve everything, it do…

The do not call list seems to be a "Spam me, you brute" list.

In the beginning, they seemed to take their job seriously, but I doubt that has been the case for many years.

Right after SHAKEN/STIR was passed, I got zero spoofed calls. I did get a few robocalls, but they weren't spoofed.

For a month or so. So that shows the problem can be solved, legislatively.

Then, they started coming back, and now, almost every call I get, is spoofed. This includes some legit ones.

Also, legit callers should keep in mind that the autodialer companies they employ, might also moonlight as spammers, so they get blacklisted. I have had quite a number of legit calls get listed as spam.

Cynically, I feel as if politicians are unwilling to get tough on these, because they (or their proxies) use them. That seems to be both sides of the aisle.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#109

On a side note, today and yesterday I've been bombarded with spam calls. Even got one while writing this comment. All of which have my same area code, which is for a location I haven't live at for over 15 years. No voice mail, nothing. It's not even this bad around election time. Btw, if you haven't already, you can sign up for the FCC's Do Not Call list[0]. While obviously this isn't going to solve everything, it do…

Funny, Today I received TEN spam calls. Each had about half an hour in between, from various numbers and area codes. I have never received that many spam calls ever.

Re: FCC bars providers for non-compliance with robocall protections

#110
At this point I'm firmly of the opinion that "leak this 10 digit code and anyone on the planet can call me relentlessly" is just a broken model. Maybe that worked better when the calls carried a significant cost, but clearly the scammers are able to do this sort of thing at scale.

In practice of course, my phone is 100% permanently in "do not disturb" mode and does not ring at all unless I've added you to my contact list. Which means the scammer, already pretending to live in small town rural USA (where they most certainly are not) has to correctly guess the number of one of my relatives before my pocket actually rings. It also means I'm unreachable for anything actually important that isn't in my contact list. That's an annoying price.

I'm not sure what the correct end solution is, but the current solution seems to be very broken.

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