Robocalls have grown to become a major problem in the United States, and the FCC is working to create new legislation to hopefully help solve the issue for good. A new proposal from the FCC aims to crack down on robocalls that originate from overseas, or ones that evade spoofing laws.
As detailed by TechCrunch, the new proposal is a follow-up to the Ray Baum’s Act, which specifically prohibited international spoofing and robocall practices using VoIP. The Ray Baum’s Act built on the Truth in Caller ID Act, which prohibited robocalling, but only in the United States.
The new proposal from the FCC will take the Ray Baum’s Act even further, and give the FCC power to take action against those who violate the new law intentionally. TechCrunch explains:
Of course, even if this new proposal is adopted, it wouldn’t necessarily be easy for the FCC to go after scammers in a foreign country. Nonetheless, it should at least give it a bit more power to try.
Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal will be made public later this week and voted on at the FCC’s August 1 open meeting. If adopted, the agency would be able to do what it’s been doing with U.S. robocallers, except abroad.
For its part, Apple has added new spam and unknown caller protections with iOS 13. The update automatically silences spam and unknown callers using Siri intelligence. Carriers have also been making some efforts to reduce spam and robocalls, but the problem continues to plague consumers.
