North Carolina Attorney General (AG) Josh Stein is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt new rules proposed in the agency’s FY2018 appropriations authorization bill that deal enforcing rules against caller ID spoofing on calls originating overseas, and spoofing using alternative voice and text messaging services.
“Scammers use robocalls and spoofing techniques to steal money from hard-working consumers,” Stein said in a statement. “I urge the FCC to adopt these protections that will help combat these annoying and harmful calls.”
Stein isn’t the only state AG backing the proposed rules. AGs from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia – for a grand total of 42 AGs – also submitted comments on May 6 urging the FCC adopt the proposed rules.
In addition to state AGs getting involved in the issue, Federal legislators have also held hearings and introduced new bills to combat robocalls. In the House alone there are at least seven pieces of legislation dealing with robocalls and the Senate has its own bill that cleared committee unanimously in April. Late last month, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology convened to discuss robocalls. However, the hearing ended with no clear plan to move forward with legislation.
