WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear announced June 5 that they are urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny a petition requesting that so-called “ringless robocalls” be exempt from consumer protections under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
“New Yorkers are already the victims of countless unwanted phone solicitations,” Schneiderman said. “The federal government has a basic responsibility to protect American consumers. That certainly doesn’t mean making it even easier for companies to spam them with costly, unsolicited, ringless robocalls.”
The attorneys general filed a joint comment letter and urged the FCC to crack down on the onslaught of robocall messages. The petition in question was filed by All About the Message. It deals with robocalls that do not ring a consumer’s phone. Instead, the messages go straight to voicemail. The petitioners believe these should not be considered “calls.”
“Massachusetts residents already face a constant barrage of harassing, intrusive and unwanted robocalls,” Healey said. “Granting companies a free pass to push ringless voice messages to consumers’ phones just adds more robocalls and causes significant financial harm to those who are charged for checking their messages.”
“Protecting Kentuckians from the constant barrage of unwanted scam and robocalls is an ongoing priority of my office,” Beshear said. “We must strengthen the protections to our citizens, not clear the way for costly, unwanted calls.”