Measure passed to encourage phone companies to block robocalls

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) Attorney General Mike Hunter applauded Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai and the members of the commission for passing a measure to combat robocalls last week. The new rule allows and encourages phone companies to block robocalls by default. The companies must first inform customers and give them the opportunity to opt out of having the calls blocked. Many phone companies already offer call blocking technology on an opt-in basis, but customers have to ask for the service and often must pay for it. Although the new rule does not mandate companies offer the new service for free, the commission expects most, if not all, companies to offer the service at no cost. Attorney General Hunter said the new rule is an important step to combating burdensome robocalls. “When I met with FCC Chairman Pai last month, one of our main topics of discussion was how to better combat robocalls in order to protect consumers,” Attorney General Hunter said. “This rule is a decisive response that will give consumers more peace of mind to allow them to more confidently answer the phone without the fear of having their personal information or money stolen. I commend Chairman Pai and the commission for putting consumers first and making this a top priority. “Although giving phone companies this new tool to help protect consumers, more must be done. That is why Chairman Pai, my attorneys general colleagues and I encourage congress to take action on the TRACED Act.” According to the call-blocking company YouMail, last month alone, Oklahomans received more than 56 million robocalls at a rate of over 75,000 per hour. In a step further to combat robocalls, commission members also adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require service providers to implement a caller ID authentication framework, if the companies fail to do so by the end of the year. More on the FCC meeting, here: https://bit.ly/2KABlRM.