Congress is a step closer to sticking to robotic callers

Comprehensive anti-automated app bill – which would help stop the scourge of automated appeals and stop US consumers from paying for blocking tools – is finally being called for a vote by the US House of Representatives United

On Wednesday morning, the House of Commons Committee on Energy and Commerce voted unanimously to report the Automated Calls Abandonment Act, as amended, to the entire House.

The bill would make many routine appeals practices illegal and give the US government more powers to punish fraudsters.

Under this bill, the Federal Communications Commission would be required to regulate the use of artificial calling messages and automatic numbering systems to facilitate the issuance of millions of calls by fraudsters. The purpose of the bill is to require entities using automated appeals to prove that they have received the consent of the people they are calling, and it would put in place ways for consumers to withdraw their consent.

The law would also require operators like AT & T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon to adopt caller ID authentication rules to combat call spoofing and to carry out these changes a year and a half after the coming into force of the bill.

According to estimates by YouMail, an automated call blocking service monitoring automated calls, $ 4.4 billion was launched in the United States in June and about $ 48 billion in the country in 2018.

At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday morning, New Jersey Democrat Representative Frank Pallone – who introduced the bill with Oregon Republican Representative Greg Walden – said he did not answer because he was expecting spam.

"Today, the American people are about to regain control of their boring and illegal automated calls," Pallone said in a public statement after the vote. "This legislation will ensure that every call received by Americans is verified by identifying the caller and that consumers can block calls they do not want. I look forward to the entire House voting soon on our bill. "

Importantly, the bill would also prevent operators from imposing on consumers a call-authentication technology to filter automated calls.

The FCC has recently adopted a proposal allowing operators to block automated calls, but also allowing them to bill such a service. This new bill could essentially eliminate the possibility of companies charging extra fees for this service.