WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Jan. 31 that it provided comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding potential mechanisms to address erroneously blocked robocalls without harming consumers or callers.
According to the FTC, the issue requires balancing the “long-overdue progress in developing call-blocking and call-filtering solutions to protect consumers from illegal and unwanted calls,” along with “the interests of subscribers and legitimate callers that could be harmed by erroneously blocked calls."
The FTC stressed its support for the FCC’s inquiry. The comments submitted by the FTC encourage call-blocking service providers to initiate business practices that reduce the possibility of blocking calls that are actually wanted. To enact such business changes, the FTC recommended clearly communicating to subscribers the types of calls that will be blocked, using plain and specific terms to label calls, and providing points of contact for consumers in case of blocking error.
The FTC was specifically commenting on the FCC’s Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Matter of Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls.
The FTC voted 2-0 approve the comment’s submission. Janice Kopec of the Bureau of Consumer Protection is the staff contact for the case.