FCC will not activate complaint posting

I put "legitimate" in parenthesis to emphasise it is their interpretation, not mine, of what is meant by legitimate.

The debt collector has to be a business properly registered with the state it is in and licensed to collect in that state, and any other state it seeks to collect debts.

And I leave out factoring companies, who buy accounts receivables of businesses.

Consumers Union and Consumers Reports has a better plan for Robo callers than the slow moving FCC.   Search google for. end robo consumers Union to find petition and info

They have over 300k signatures and are planning a full scale press on major phone companies to block Robo at the switches.  The technology Blocks  over 95% of Robo in Europe why not here?

They stopped the Comcast merger. Help them chalk up another victory

Join their campaign and stop these scammers at the source in the phone switch that delivers calls to your phone

300,000 signatures sounds like a lot, but it is less than one-tenth of one-percent of the US population.

The telcos are NOT going to act on a petition; they only respond to laws.

Here is a forum thread discussion :
https://800notes.com/forum/ta-c6a2c8e2eb9e5bd ... anted-robocalls
FCC to Phone Companies: You Can Stop Unwanted Robocalls

On page 3 find out what BigA has posted and Resident47 has posted
https://800notes.com/forum/ta-c6a2c8e2eb9e5bd ... anted-robocalls

It's too long for me to quote here, basically the Attorney Generals of 45 states have recently petitioned the telcos to give their customers good abilities to block unwanted calls ON ALL phone numbers the customers have.

Time for you to contact your US congressional representatives and senators and demand they put the heat on the telcos to make this happen or else ... laws will be passed.

i for one am tired of hearing about that ridiculous petition which was probably only started to attract attention to their magazine and get subscribers.

The topic concerns the performance of a federal agency complaint portal. It does not directly concern "robocalls" or their countermeasures, and I think in that realm we have a vast abundance of discussion all over this site. We can well afford to take a break just once.

I have officially had enough of slapdash references to the Consumers Union petition. Let's review this again ....

1)  On 23 January this year the FTC issued a well-argued request to the FCC to clarify that phone carriers should not feel any resistance from common carrier rules if they provide the means for customers to manage and block their own phone traffic as desired.

2)  CU launched its petition site about a month later, *IN REACTION TO* the FTC letter. Its stated "demand" is for phone carriers to "provide free tools to block unwanted robocalls". Note the operative terms "provide" and "tools".

3)  In late May, FCC Chairman Wheeler issued a sneak preview of the proposed declaratory rulings which would be voted on in the next month's open meeting. The proto-rulings sought to raise the exposure of lawbreakers and make it easier for people to rid themselves of nuisance callers. Wheeler also agreed that "carriers could offer robocall-blocking technologies to consumers" and "implement market-based solutions that consumers could use".

4)  On 18 June the FCC did the right thing and ruled that common carrier obligations were no barrier to any phone service carriers who wanted to provide the means of call management by their customers, much in the vein of what VOIP subscribers have long enjoyed.

Now, what do we take away? First, "the slow moving FCC" responded decisively to the FTC request in less than five months. Given that the FCC really does have many more things to do than worry about illegal sales calls to the consumer sector, this matter received quite prompt attention.

Second, neither the two agencies nor CU are targeting "the source in the phone switch", whatever the hell that meant. Remember those operative terms? The three agree that carriers can block calls *with a customer's consent*, not decide winners and losers unilaterally.

Third, the three entities will probably differ on how exactly to get it done, but they agree that carriers cannot shrug and burble "common carrier" as an excuse. This is to say that Consumers Union had no "better plan" but the same one.

It makes me angry, too. We talked last night---and he told me he is not giving up.The sellers of the house he wants to buy are downsizing and anxious to sell and are open to any and all offers, including a possible lease purchase option. Keep your fingers crossed.

But it does drive traffic to their web site where I am sure they try to sell you a subscription to whatever services they may offer, and I wouldn't doubt that some people bite and sign up at X number of dollars a month.

CU has done good advocacy work, and when they send reps to testify before one Congressional committee or another, they usually perform well. It would be out of character to do something obnoxious to attract new members and subscribers, like the commercial entities ridiculed in the "Selling It" back page feature.

I am surprised by the hamfisted appearance of their February petition. JB up there is not the first to be misled by it. Petitions tend to be driven more by emotion than factual detail. CU could have done better to clarify.

I will definitely keep my fingers crossed. I so understand, my buyers wanted my house and offered full price, even after inspection, kept it at full price and have done everything asked of them. I did everything asked of me. Now all we are waiting for is a closing date, which was on or about June 27 to July 27 (hello, bank, it is now July 24) so I am on the phone almost daily trying to get an answer. Supposedly it is back to underwriting for final approval. Good grief, if I worked like that when I worked (retired since 1999), I would have been in trouble.

It is really aggravating that no one does what they are supposed to do (like banks and title companies and even lawyers at times) and it is the buyer and sellers who are left in the cold unless they continually open their mouths.

Good luck to your son, glad he is not giving up!!!!

Thanks. Good luck with your upcoming closing, too!

I didn't read the entire discussion above but I'd like to note that "telemarketing" is not an industry!  It's a bunch of scumbags, disturbing people in their homes and violating their privacy.  Unsolicited sales calls of ANY type (including charities and political parties) should simply be illegal ESPECIALLY to cell phones, where the recipient may have to pay to hear the pitch.

There should be a law requiring phone companies to allow end users the option to block ALL robocalls at no expense.  It's really that simple.  You should also be able to block all calls which do not have a validated and legitimate caller ID number.  The same with calls originating from certain selected foreign countries such as Ukraine, Russia, China, and Nigeria (and many others if you choose to block them).   Legitimate callers from these countries can make special arrangements with you via email or other media to unblock them if you wish to let them.

There is no point whatever to the do not call list.  First, the ayholes who do the worse telemarketing with robocalls pay no attention to it.  Some even use it as a source of "live" numbers to call!  This is especially true of phishing scammers who simply want personal data so as to steal from bank accounts and credit cards.  The same with those who try to sell shoddy products, services and "trips".

Far too much total personal and work time is wasted on the cockroaches who do telemarketing and phone scamming.  It is time to stop them.

Telemarketing calls are illegal to cell phones:  https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-release ... t-call-registry
The problem lies in that there is no way to tell whether a phone is a cell phone or a land line just by the telephone number.  This why i have both my number listed on the DNC.
"There is no point whatever to the do not call list."  So you would like to get phone calls from legitimate companies that do abide by the DNC in addition to the calls from criminals that you might receive now?
"Some even use it as a source of "live" numbers to call!"  Yes because it makes perfect business sense to pay $16,000 for a bunch of number of people that do not want to be called and will not buy anything if they do.
"This is especially true of phishing scammers who simply want personal data so as to steal from bank accounts and credit cards"  So what information do they learn aside from a phone number that is listed on this $16,000 piece of paper they just paid for?  How will that get them bank account info, etc.

You were doing good until you drifted into the realm of fantasy and urban myth.

} I didn't read the entire discussion

This was quickly obvious. The thread title alone should tell you how much your detour strays.

} There should be a law requiring phone companies to allow end users the option to block ALL robocalls at no expense.

This is why reading before posting helps. As discussed, the FCC just ruled that certain federal laws were *never preventing* telco rollout of robust call management features. Carriers don't need another law. By the time we get one signed the criminals with autodialers will have moved on to their next frustrating techniques. Yet you think more legislation will make things simpler.

} sales calls of ANY type (including charities and political parties) should simply be illegal

But fundraising and political speech are not classified as sales. To be marked as "sales", the caller has to offer a good or service with a price tag or facilitate such an offer. "It's really that simple." I won't get into why blanket prohibition of DNCR exemptions is not feasible.

} Legitimate callers ... can make special arrangements with you via email or other media

They can but I doubt most will have the patience or equipment for cross-media authentication. This could introduce undue complexity and more vectors for exploitation, counter to your cry for simplicity.

} There is no point whatever to the do not call list. ... Some even use it as a source of "live" numbers to call!

You are entitled to your opinions but not unsubstantiated claims borrowed from hearsay.

"There is no point whatever to the do not call list.  First, the ayholes who do the worse telemarketing with robocalls pay no attention to it."

The DNC registry has kept all of the legitimate telemarketers from calling for many years.  I like to think of it as a pre-screening process.  If the legitimate guys obey the law and don't call the registered numbers, the ONLY calls you are getting are from the crooks.  These you can safely either ignore, or pick up the phone and try to get enough information about them to file a complaint, or play with them for a while so that they are not bothering other people.  (Almost all of the crooks hang up immediately when I answer the phone, "North precinct; fraud division.")

We also have ADT........"all dogs together".  Five very yappy chihuahuas. These little girls can hear an ant fart in Chicago. Don't need no stinkin' alarm company!!!

Seriously, they really work for us and they are pretty cute!