AT&T, Apple, Google to work on 'robocall' crackdown (updated)
19/08/2016 16:21
(Adds details, FCC comment)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - More than 30 major technology
companies are joining the U.S. government to crack down on
automated, prerecorded telephone calls that regulators have
labeled a "scourge."
AT&T Inc T.N , Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , Apple
Inc AAPL.O , Verizon Communications Inc VZ.N and Comcast Corp
CMCSA.O are among the members of the "Robocall Strike Force,"
which will work with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
The group was holding its first meeting with the FCC on Friday.
The strike force will report to the commission by Oct. 19 on
"concrete plans to accelerate the development and adoption of
new tools and solutions," said AT&T Chief Executive Officer
Randall Stephenson, who is chairing the group.
The group hopes to put in place Caller ID verification
standards that would help block calls from spoofed phone numbers
and to consider a "Do Not Originate" list that would block
spoofers from impersonating specific phone numbers from
governments, banks or others.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in July urged major companies to
take new action to block robocalls, which often come from
telemarketers or scam artists.
"This scourge must stop," Wheeler said on Friday, calling
robocalls the No. 1 complaint from consumers.
Wheeler has said robocalls continue "due in large part to
industry inaction."
"The bad guys are beating the good guys with technology,"
Wheeler said.
Stephenson emphasized "the breadth and complexity" of the
robocall problem.
"This is going to require more than individual company
initiatives and one-off blocking apps," Stephenson said.
"Robocallers are a formidable adversary, notoriously hard to
stop."
The FCC does not require phone providers to offer robocall
blocking and filtering but has strongly encouraged providers to
offer those services at no charge to consumers.
The strike force brings together carriers, device makers,
operating system developers, network designers and the
government.
"We have to come out of this with a comprehensive play book
for all of us to go execute," Stephenson said. "We have calls
that are perfectly legal, but unwanted, like telemarketers and
public opinion surveyors. At the other end of the spectrum, we
have millions of calls that are blatantly illegal."
Stephenson said technical experts representing the companies
have had "preliminary conversations about short- and longer-term
initiatives."
Other companies taking part include Blackberry Ltd BB.TO ,
British Telecommunications Plc BTCOM.UL , Charter
Communications Inc CHTR.O , Frontier Communications FTR.O , LG
Electronics Inc 066570.KS , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Nokia Corp
NOKIA.HE , Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O , Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
005930.KS , Sirius XM Holdings Inc SIRI.O , T-Mobile US Inc
TMUS.O and U.S. Cellular Corp USM.N .
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and
Lisa Von Ahn)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))
Keywords: USA ROBOCALLS/