Democrats Tout New Legislation, Republicans Urge Tech Fixes at House Digital Commerce Robocall Hearing

HR-5633, filed by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., would close a loophole in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act created in the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act that allows robocalls to cellphones for the collection of debt owed to the government (see 1510270063). The Hangup Act “restores” TCPA's original intent “by establishing a statutory roadblock to unwanted robocalls and texts from government contractors,” Eshoo said. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., originally spearheaded the legislation during the last Congress and refiled the Senate version (S-564) in 2017 (see 1510300061, 1511040053 and 1703080071). House Digital Commerce ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., bemoaned that Congress “actually made it even easier for some debt collectors to harass consumers” via the 2015 law.

House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., floated his draft Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, which would address issues identified in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's March ruling that partially reversed a 2015 FCC robocalling order that fleshed out regulations for TCPA's general prohibition against using automated dialing devices to make uninvited calls. The ruling set aside the FCC effort to clarify the types of calling equipment that fall within the TCPA's restrictions to include autodialers (see 1803160053). The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act would clarify the definition of a robocall, and clarify exemptions to the TCPA ban. It would also create a national database of reassigned phone numbers and require FCC-FTC cooperation to reduce abusive robocalls by “at least” 50 percent yearly.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., touted her draft Cease Robocalls Act, which would lift the FTC Act's common-carrier exemption to let that agency bring enforcement actions against carriers and VoIP providers when involved in illegal robocall operations. “Consumers don't just need new tools” to combat robocalls, they also “need new protections,” she said. Dingell later noted her concerns about smaller VoIP providers' heavy involvement in robocall operations, citing testimony at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing earlier this month (see 1804180066). “Shutting these operations down would be an effective enforcement tactic,” Dingell said.

If the FTC “had more authority to go after” VoIP providers, it could better use the “enforcement muscle to crack down on this illegal activity,” Mahoney said. She supported enacting HR-5633/S-164 and the refiled Repeated Objectionable Bothering of Consumers on Phones Act. HR-5573/S-2705, first filed last Congress, would force all telecom companies to install free telemarketing blockers and verify the numbers on caller IDs (see 1604130056 and 1606060030). “Enforcement hasn’t been enough to deter illegal robocalling, and it is especially difficult to police bad actors when these calls are coming from scammers overseas who spoof their numbers to avoid being caught,” Mahoney said.

“We've got to do something about” abusive robocalls, but it “seems to me that technology holds the best promise” to effectively address the situation, Walden said: “We can make some changes in statute probably," but technical solutions will be needed to “stay ahead of the spoofers.” It's illegal under TCPA to “robocall a cellphone” and the federally-created Do Not Call List “isn't that effective” because abusive robocall operations “are operating illegally to begin with,” Walden said. He noted the text of the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986) as enacted in the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill included language from the Spoofing Prevention Act (S-134) to address FCC and FTC anti-spoofing efforts (see 1803230038).

Walden, House Digital Commerce Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and other Republicans emphasized the need for improved consumer education on robocalls and highlighted industry-led fixes. “Good options are available, but I think all of us, including industry, can and should do a much better job of education, particularly with our seniors, to make sure that new scam ideas are stopped quickly,” Latta said. “The bad actors clearly keep evolving, and we need to make sure consumers stay one step ahead,” Walden said. “There is no singular solution to solve the problem of unwanted calls, but we owe it to our constituents to present all the options available.”

Nomorobo Founder Aaron Foss and RoboKiller Chief Product Officer Ethan Garr touted their apps as effective anti-robocall tools. “It's a jungle out there and the robocallers have started to use more advanced tricks and tactics,” Foss said. "Disruption of the telemarketers’ business is the key to solving this problem,” Garr said.

The private sector needs to “find ways to look at” data gathered on why the number of robocalls has rapidly increased in recent years, “analyze that information, and apply it back in the carrier network,” said First Orion Executive Vice President-Technology and Solution Development Scott Hambuchen. “The cost for any company to be able to create and launch call campaigns off the internet, connected to the carrier networks, has come down so dramatically over the last couple of years. It makes it very easy for scammers to launch millions of calls at very low cost. It’s also helped legitimate businesses also reach their customers with legitimate services.”