CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is urging the Federal Communications Commission to fight back against illegal robocalls by moving up the deadline for smaller telephone companies to implement caller ID technology.
Morrisey joined a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general in submitting comments to the FCC.
“For the state Attorneys General, as well as their partners in the federal government and telecommunications industry, illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing continue to remain a vexing problem,” Morrisey joined in writing. “The state Attorneys General pledge to continue their work on the front lines of this fight, alongside our partners in the federal government and telecommunications industry, but we need the commission’s help.”
Morrisey
Under the TRACED Act, which became law in 2019, phone companies are required to implement STIR/SHAKEN technology on their networks. This caller ID authentication technology helps ensure that telephone calls are originating from verified numbers, not spoofed sources. Large companies were required to implement the technology by June 2021, and smaller phone companies received an extension until June 2023.
However, some of the same smaller phone companies that are benefitting from this extension are also responsible for originating or facilitating high volumes of illegal robocalls that spam Americans and lead to financial or personal data loss.
Without the STIR/SHAKEN technology in place, these smaller companies are failing to take a necessary step to minimize the continued onslaught of illegally spoofed robocalls that harm consumers.
The coalition is asking the FCC to require these companies to implement the STIR/SHAKEN technology as soon as possible and no later than June 30, 2022.
Morrisey initiated discussions in 2019 with several phone companies in an effort to gain their commitment to expedite the deployment of scam blocking technology.
A short time later, he joined attorneys general from every state in reaching a bipartisan, public-private agreement that resulted in 12 phone companies adopting eight principles to fight illegal robocalls. The pact will protect consumers and make it easier for attorneys general and law enforcement to investigate and prosecute bad actors.
Morrisey also successfully called upon Congress to pass the TRACED Act, legislation that enables states, federal regulators and telecom providers to take steps to combat the unlawful calls.
West Virginia joined in submitting the comments with the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.