Whats To Be Done With The People Who Plan To Spam Us With Ringless Voicemails?
05/30/2017 05:36 pm ET
A modest proposal.
By Jason Linkins
If you are like many of the Americans who, in recent years, chose to cut the cord on your landline phone, you probably remember one of the things that finally drove you to that decision: the endless, horrible robocalls that rang you at all hours of the day. You probably knew, every time you checked your voicemail, that the chances that someone you actually cared about had left you a message were frustratingly remote. Instead, it was a litany of people trying to sell you stuff, politicians begging for your money or your vote, or CVS reminding you for the ninth time that your Klonopin refill was waiting for you to pick it up.
“Come on, CVS robot,” you thought, “you sound like you need that Klonopin more than I do.”
Those who shifted to an all-mobile phone existence experienced a relief from this daily barrage of robocalls, thanks to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). That law included a strict mandate that your mobile number could not be targeted by robocall campaigns unless you were foolish enough to provide your written consent. But now that hard-won peace is under threat. As Consumerist’s Chris Morran reports:
A company called All About The Message (AATM) has developed technology that lets it deliver messages straight to a recipient’s voicemail without actually calling the phone. It recently petitioned [PDF] the Federal Communications Commission, asking it to declare that such direct-to-voicemail messages fall outside the umbrella of the TCPA, or to grant the company a waiver to deliver these messages without fear of the penalties that could result from violating the TCPA.
This petition has received support from businesses and politicians, particularly in the form of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the RNC.
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ringless-voicemail-robocalls_us_592dd664e4b055a197cdde68?section=us_politics
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