FCC puts 'robocalls' on their hit list

The Federal Communications Commission today is set to approve tougher rules giving consumers additional protection against unwanted autodialed or prerecorded calls to home phone lines. "We have gotten thousands of complaints," says FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Consumers were for all that getting robocalls they don't want and shouldn't get."

He expects the commission to approve new rules that will require telemarketers to get written consent previously making such calls.

Even even though Congress in 2008 passed legislation making Do Not Call permanent, some telemarketers have continued to make unsolicited calls because of loopholes in the law.

The new FCC rules

Under the new FCC rules, telemarketers must get consent previously calling home phones, even if the consumer hasn't included their number on the Do Not Call registry. Current rules already prohibit such calls to cellphones without consent.

Robocall telemarketers use predictive innovation to automatically dial thousands of homes simultaneously and connect live representatives with call recipients. Often, consumers hear nothing when they pick up the phone because there's no representative available.

Previously, companies that consumers already had done business with could robocall them, nevertheless that exemption will be removed in accordance with the new rules. Other new provisions require telemarketers to give consumers a quick way to end the call and automatically add their number to telemarketers' Do Not Call lists.

Not covered by the new rules: robocalls from schools and other non-profit organizations and political groups, because they are considered informational. Those calls cannot be made without consent to wireless phones, nevertheless.

The FCC is as well expected to require Internet-based phone services, just as Vonage, to alert the agency when outages affect 911 service. Traditional carriers already must do so. "Nearly one-third of Americans use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) as their only telephone service," Genachowski says. "The reason we are updating our rules is to help ensure that reliable 911 service will be available no matter what kind of phone service the person has."

The FCC today is set to approve tougher rules giving consumers additional protection against unwanted autodialed or prerecorded calls to home phone lines