New Anti-Robocall Law Goes To President For Signatory Approval

via Kieren McCarthy - writing at El Reg - comes a bit of good news on a Wednesday in the glorious Pacific Northwest: Congress - just this morning, mind you - has passed the esteemed body's new Anti-Robocall Act monikered the TRACED Act, and along with the Senate's passing of Senate Bill 151 (sponsored by Senator John Thune [R-SD]) it's just like A Bill On Capital Hill...

"The new law is likely to prove effective: it gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the power to fine companies up to $20,000 per robocall, and it obliges phone companies to verify the legitimacy of calls at no cost." - via the inimitable Kieren McCarthy - writing at El Reg

Big Cable To Oppose Robocalling Regulations

via Jon Brodkin, reporting at Ars Technica comes this story of Those Terrible People In The Cable Industry.

The latest outrage from the Cable Industry (in the United States, at least) is to direct their trade lobby group in pitching Senators and Representatives alike to punch the Nay Button in an effort to fight Anti-Robocalling legislation. Time to really cut the cord, methinks?

'"Cable lobby NCTA–The Internet & Television Association last week told the FCC in a filing that "these requests for mandatory requirements should be rejected."' - via Jon Brodkin, reporting at Ars Technica

Robocalling, A Litany Of Telecom and Government Incompetence

Lily Hay Newman, writing at Wired, brings us the bad-news of robo-calling mitigation efforts in the United States (also published on Wired's sister site - Ars Technica - both Conde Nast properties). As usual, the incompetence of the telecom's participating in these mitigation and remediation efforts combined with the signature lack of technological know-how in the United States government has brought us to this unfortunate-old-box-of-1st-world-pain.

'Though it's frustrating that existing efforts haven't made much of a dent in robocalling yet, Ian Barlow, who oversees the FTC's Do Not Call Registry, says that things would be even more dire without the measures that are already in place. "Like any law enforcement agency we're never going to stamp out every crime," he says. "But without that enforcement the problem would be much worse."' - via Lily Hay Newman, writing at Wired, brings us the bad-news of robo-calling mitigation efforts in the United States

Too Busy, Don't Care; So Sorry, Not Sorry

via Lawrence Abrams, writing at Bleeping Computer, comes news of a the most recent Attorney's General - The Gathering, colaescing into a brilliant coterie of top Law Enforcement Officials for their individual States. In which, Mesdames et Messieurs Procureurs Généraux demanding Somthing Be Done about Robo-Calls (cetainly the 1st, 2nd and perhaps 3rd World Scourge of Telecommunications) in a missive to the Federal Commmunications Commission (FCC).

Now, whilst I do enthusiastically laud the Advocatus Generalis' cumulative effort to stem-the-tide of robotic-calling systems - that enthusiasm is tempered by the herculean proposition it is to make such a request of the FCC, as Charman Pai of the Commission is far too busy casting his Reese's Peanut Butter Cup soaked visage for former employer Verizon and the other telcos' interests, rather than the People's Business.

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Image Credit: TransNexus

"As these illegal telemarketing scams are estimated to have stolen 9.5 billion dollars from consumers, the letter urges the FCC to push for new protocols that can further help to battle these scams. These protocols are STIR (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited) and SHAKEN (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) and can be used by telephone providers to identify legitimate calls and those from bad actors..." - via Lawrence Abrams> , writing at Bleeping Computer