Comcast Backs FCC Reassigned Number Robocall Plan; AT&T Seeks Blocked Calls Safe Harbor
Comcast lauded an FCC draft proposal aimed at reducing unwanted robocalls to reassigned phone numbers. Comcast "strongly supports" the proposal "to establish a centralized, Commission-designated database" of reassigned numbers, "and to encourage use of this resource by adopting a safe…
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harbor from liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act" for businesses relying on the database, said a filing Monday in docket 17-59 on a draft Further NPRM on the tentative agenda for the March 22 commissioners' meeting (see 1803010047). "Without access to a comprehensive tool for determining whether a number has been reassigned, even committed efforts by legitimate businesses to comply with the TCPA cannot entirely protect against 'gotcha' lawsuits based on calls mistakenly placed to reassigned numbers." While the draft "properly emphasizes that use of the database would be wholly voluntary for callers, the item correctly seeks to encourage widespread use by proposing the adoption of a TCPA safe harbor for callers that rely on the database," Comcast said. AT&T urged the FCC to issue a separate FNPRM "to expand the types of numbers that can be blocked if illegal robocall activity is detected" and it proposed a safe harbor if legitimate calls are inadvertently blocked. "The industry is still limited in the types of calls it can block and expanded blocking would benefit consumers," said a filing on a meeting with agency staffers. "Every effort must be made to avoid blocking a legitimate call but occasionally that may happen." It proposed a safe harbor for providers that inadvertently block legitimate calls if they: block the calls "in connection with an event" carriers "had good faith reason to believe was an illegal robocalling event;" had procedures for "network blocking that were reasonably likely to confirm that calls being blocked are illegal robocalls;" followed the procedures; and "had a process for unblocking legitimate voice calls."