Topic: Call Spoofing

FCC Acts to Curb Foreign-Originated Illegal Robocalls, Imposes Several New Requirements on Gateway Providers

Recently, on May 20, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Report and Order (“Order”), as well as a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (all available here), with a plain objective:  to “take further steps to stem the tide of foreign-originated illegal robocalls and seek comment on additional ways to address all such calls.”  Order1.  As stated by the FCC, “reducing illegal robocalls that originate abroad is one of the most vexing challenges we face in tackling the problem of illegal robocalls.”  Id.  The Order was adopted by a unanimous, 4-0 vote by the FCC after it had received comments over the last nine months on various topics, including whether so-called “gateway providers” should be required to authenticate caller identification information and implement other efforts to reduce the number of illegal prerecorded and/or artificial voice “robocalls” originating overseas.

A “gateway provider” is a U.S.-based provider that acts as an intermediary for an international call by receiving a call directly from a foreign provider before transmitting that call downstream to other U.S.-based providers for termination.  Order ¶ 25.  This definition is not static but rather one that applies on a call-by-call basis, i.e., a provider is a gateway provider—and subject to the FCC’s new Order—only for those calls in which it acts as a gateway provider.  Id. ¶ 28.  Per the FCC, commenters “overwhelmingly” supported the imposition of additional requirements on gateway providers in order to “stop the flood of foreign-originated illegal calls.”  Id. ¶ 21.

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FCC TCPA Actions Mid-Year Review

After adopting orders reflecting the majority of implementation deadlines set by the TRACED Act and the Supreme Court’s highly anticipated TCPA decision interpreting the statutory definition of automatic telephone dialing system in the first half of 2021, all eyes are on what the FCC has planned. Midsummer seems like a good time for a year-to-date review to track where the FCC has been and where it is headed next in its TCPA oversight and enforcement roles.

STIR/SHAKEN Call Authentication Framework

Last week, the FCC adopted its January 2021 proposal and issued a Report and Order establishing what the FCC describes as “a fair and consistent process” that a voice service provider can use to challenge a decision by the STIR/SHAKEN framework Governance Authority to strip that provider of the “digital token” that authenticates calls on that provider’s Internet-Protocol (IP) networks.

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FCC First Report on Illegal Robocalls

On February 14, 2019, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau released its first report on illegal robocalls (“the Robocall Report”) to address the “onslaught of unwanted calls that has led a lot of consumers to stop answering the phone altogether.” This report is compiled based on data points from more than forty comments submitted by voice service providers, trade associations, analytics companies, and consumers. The Robocall Report provided summary analysis on the following issues:

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FCC and FTC to Co-Host Technology Expo Aimed at Combatting Illegal Robocalls

As we previously reported, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission recently issued a joint announcement regarding two events “aimed at furthering the fight against illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing.” The first event was a joint policy forum that was held on March 23, 2018. The second event, which will be held on April 23, 2018, is an expo that will “showcase technologies, devices, and applications to minimize or eliminate the illegal robocalls consumers receive.”

The free and public expo will feature brief remarks from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen, as well as demonstrations from the following companies:

  • AT&T
  • Call Control
  • Comcast Corporation
  • Digitone Communications
  • First Orion Corp.
  • Hiya
  • Neustar Communications
  • Nomorobo
  • Reverd LLC
  • Scammer Jammer
  • South Coast Telecom Inc.
  • T-Mobile
  • TNS
  • Verizon
  • VTech Communications, Inc.
  • YouMail

Additional information on the Stop Illegal Robocalls Expo is available here.

FCC and FTC Announce Two Upcoming Joint Events Aimed at Combatting Illegal Robocalls

On March 7, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission issued a joint announcement regarding two upcoming events “aimed at furthering the fight against illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing.” The announcement states that the events will “highlight cooperative efforts by the two agencies to combat illegal calls and promote innovative solutions to protect consumers.” The first event is a policy forum the two agencies will be co-hosting on March 23, 2018. The agencies intend to discuss “the regulatory challenges posed by illegal robocalls and what the FCC and FTC are doing to both protect consumers and encourage the development of private-sector solutions” at the forum. Additional information on the forum is available here. The second event is an expo the two agencies will be co-hosting on April 23, 2018. The Stop Illegal Robocalls Expo will showcase “technologies, devices, and applications to minimize or eliminate the illegal robocalls consumers receive.” Additional information on the expo, including how to participate in the expo, is available here.

FCC Releases Two Notices of Inquiry Addressing Reassigned Numbers and Caller ID Spoofing

The FCC released two notices of inquiry (NOIs) related to TCPA issues last week: one on how to better track reassigned numbers, and another on tightening industry wide techniques to discourage Caller ID spoofing, one category of illegal robocalls. Each NOI seeks public comment.

Reassigned Numbers NOI

On July 13, 2017, the FCC released an NOI addressing the issue of identifying reassigned phone numbers. Specifically, as the FCC notes, in many cases the recipient of a reassigned number may be subject to unwanted calls that the prior holder of the number consented to; and conversely, the previous holder of the reassigned number is no longer receiving those calls for which she gave consent. According to the NOI:

Approximately 35 million telephone numbers are disconnected and aged each year, and according to one source 100,000 numbers are reassigned by wireless carriers every day. Consumers change telephone numbers for a variety of reasons, including switching wireless providers without porting numbers and getting new wireline telephone numbers when they move. Once a consumer drops a number, he or she might not update all parties who have called in the past, including robocallers to which the consumer gave prior express consent. NOI, ¶ 5.

In light of the FCC ruling in July 2015 that clarified a range of potential liabilities for calling reassigned numbers, the issue has resulted in a substantial amount of litigation and liability risk for companies that have received consent to place calls to numbers that have subsequently been reassigned. Further, the FCC notes that, despite the TCPA and FCC rules, complaints about unwanted calls, historically have been one of the FCC’s largest sources of informal complaints.

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