The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) formally...
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) formally requested the FCC’s opinion Tuesday on telcos’ legal ability to implement call-blocking technology. Thirty-nine AGs asked the FCC in the NAAG letter whether legal prohibitions against software like Call Control, NoMoRobo and…
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Telemarketing Guard are “subject to change” if customers specifically request the use of the software. USTelecom had said last year that legal restrictions against those technologies prevented telcos from implementing the technologies, NAAG said. The group asked the FCC if carriers can legally block a call if technology identifies a call as coming from a telemarketer, provided the telco wants to block at a customer’s request. NAAG also asked the FCC to clarify the accuracy of USTelecom’s description of the FCC’s position as a “strict oversight” of the delivery of telecom traffic and that call blocking is an “unjust and unreasonable practice” under Communications Act Section 201(b). The telcos’ resistance to implementing call-blocking technology “raises important questions. If a solution to the nation’s illegal telemarketing problem is possible, it will require the private sector -- including telephone carriers -- to get involved,” NAAG said in the letter (http://bit.ly/Zg5uKS). USTelecom is “reviewing the letter” and continues “to work on this issue,” a spokeswoman said.