FCC gives consumers a victory against unwanted calls

If rules alone could have protected us from unwanted robocalls, the national Do Not Call list would have done the trick a decade ago. As anyone with a phone knows, that hasn't happened - or, more to the point, it worked for a while and then seemed to lose its bite.

But rules matter even when technology and clever lawyers outflank them, which is what happened with robotic dialers and telemarketing. That's why Thursday's crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission, aimed at enabling consumers to quell both lawless and lawful robocalls, counts as a big victory.

It may not have been the most important thing the FCC did on a day when it also voted to extend Lifeline phone subsidies to broadband to help address the "digital divide." But it's hard to question the widespread appeal of battling unwanted robocalls, which last year alone generated 215,000 complaints to the agency.

In February, Consumers Union launched a national petition drive against unwanted robocalls, and it was joined by five other consumer groups in urging federal officials to act. Industry groups countered with petitions of their own, trying to protect their flexibility to use robocalls and texts.

The FCC didn't give consumer advocates everything they sought. But it came through with crucial updates to rules implementing 1991's Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law enacted long before the complications of cellphones and Internet-based phone systems.

At the very least, its new rules may be enough to help consumers reclaim a little peace and quiet - say, at dinnertime, as Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel suggested to laughter at Thursday's FCC meeting when she recalled interruptions "by Rachel from card member services, by an announcement that we have been preapproved for a cruise or a credit card, or by any number of other robocalls presenting us with information we did not ask for, do not want, and do not need."

The basic problem was that the old rules protecting consumers from unwanted calls had become outmoded, and outfoxed.

Wireless phones, automated dialers, and voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) technology all conspired to undermine the law, which enabled consumers to reject calls from individual telemarketers, and the Do Not Call list, which allowed them to block such calls more broadly. Further damage was done by caller ID "spoofing," a technique that enables both legitimate businesses and scammers to hide or disguise the origin of calls.

Despite division on details and a full dissent from one of the commission's two Republicans, the FCC endorsed Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal. The new rules:

Enable consumers to say "Stop" to robocalls and robotexts directed at either their cellphones or landlines, even if a company says the consumer has previously given consent.

Bar companies from relying on permission for such calls given by a previous owner of the phone number. After a first call to a new owner of the number is flagged as unwanted, the company must stop calling it.

Clarify the legality of anti-robocall technology, such as Nomorobo, similar to antispam technology that blocks unwanted e-mail. Some carriers and state attorneys general worried that Net neutrality rules could make it illegal for carriers to offer call blocking. The FCC gave them a green light.

Close a loophole the FCC says allowed companies to claim a consumer had consented to robocalls because the consumer's information appeared in the contact list of someone else who installed an app.

The new rules have a handful of exceptions - including some that Rosenworcel warned could be new loopholes.

Banks, for example, won't need your consent to send you calls or texts about possible fraud on your accounts - unless you specifically opt out. You can also expect calls to continue offering medication refills and other health-care notices.

And if you want to truly quash robocalls, you'll need to sign up for Nomorobo or something similar offered by a phone carrier. Rules alone can't stop that onslaught.

But the FCC finally accepted that the rules themselves were out of whack, and went a long way toward fixing them.

215-854-2776@jeffgelles

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