Industry and Civil Society Coalition Urges FCC to Compel Providers to Produce Meaningful Robocall Mitigation Plans

In Reply Comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission on November 12, EPIC, along with the National Consumers League and Public Knowledge, as well as industry groups CTIA and USTelecom, urged the agency to prioritize removing deficient records from the Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD) and blocking providers who have been removed. This is not merely a procedural defect, as some voice service providers and intermediate providers seem to have deliberately and brazenly flaunted their requirements to provide mitigation plans in the RMD, providing blank sheets of paper or food delivery menus rather than anything related to efforts to reduce robocalls. In its Reply Comments, the civil society and industry coalition also called for the FCC to adopt additional procedures to prevent the creation of new deficient filings, and to more closely scrutinize claims of confidentiality that obscure a company’s actual mitigation plan. Because removal from the RMD and consequent blocking, when enforced, is tantamount to expelling a company from U.S. networks this business risk is expected to compel providers to take their mitigation plans more seriously.

EPIC routinely participates in regulatory and legislative processes concerning robocalls and files amicus briefs in robocall cases.