The US Senate has passed a new bill that could help spell the end of robocall misery.
In a nearly unanimous vote, they voted to pass the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, which threatens to slap scammers with heavy fines for each robocall they make.
The move comes as legislators, government agencies and consumer advocacy groups have ramped up calls to bring an end to the scourge of unwanted calls that affect millions of consumers every year.
Last year, approximately 48 billion robocalls were placed just in the United States, which marks a nearly 60 percent increase from 2017.
The bill was first introduced by Massachusetts Senators John Thune and Ed Markey in November.
In a release detailing the TRACED Act, the senators said it was developed with the hopes of giving regulators more ammo to find scammers and increase penalties for robocallers, as well as promote call authentication and blocking adoption and encourage discussion around the prosecution of robocallers.
‘As the scourge of spoofed calls and robocalls reaches epidemic levels, the bipartisan TRACED Act will provide every person with a phone much needed relief,’ Markey explained.
‘It’s a simple formula: call authentication, blocking, and enforcement, and this bill achieves all three.’
With passage in the Senate, the bill will now go onto review by the House of Representatives, where there are other anti-robocall measures being considered.
It has also received the support of all 50 state attorneys general, the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and several consumer groups.
The bill would lengthen the statute of limitations, which means the FCC could take action on robocalls for up to three years after they’re placed, instead of just one year.
ARE ROBOCALLS ON THE RISE?
TRACED would also establish an interagency task force among the FCC, FTC, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to improve anti-robocall tactics and prosecute repeated scammers.
Earlier this month, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai introduced a new proposal that would allow phone companies to block unwanted ‘robocalls’ by default in a bid to reduce the flood of unwanted calls.
Pai said many service providers have held off developing and deploying default call-blocking tools because of uncertainty about whether the tools are legal under the FCC rules.
Allowing the default call-blocking could significantly increase development and consumer adoption of the tools, Pai said.
‘By making it clear that such call blocking is allowed, the FCC will give voice service providers the legal certainty they need to block unwanted calls from the outset so that consumers never have to get them,’ Pai said.
The U.S. telecommunications regulator is expected to take action on Pai’s proposal at its June 6 meeting.
Source: Dailymail
