FCC Seeks Comment on Call-Blocking Letter from Attorneys General

In a letter from the National Association of Attorneys General, thirty-nine Attorneys General writing “on behalf of the millions of Americans regularly receiving unwanted and harassing telemarketing calls,” ask the Federal Communications Commission for an opinion on three issues regarding telephone providers’ legal ability to implement call-blocking technology as a means of addressing unwanted telemarketing calls.

With this Public Notice, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau seek comment on the issues raised by the Attorneys General. Specifically, the Attorneys General request a formal Commission opinion on three categories of questions:

1. What legal and/or regulatory prohibitions, if any, prevent telephone carriers from implementing call-blocking technology?4 Does the answer change if the telephone companies’ customers affirmatively “opt into” the call-blocking technology (either for a fee or as a free service)?
2. US Telecom claims that telephone carriers “can and do block harassing and annoying telephone traffic at their end-user customer’s request,” but only for a “discrete set of specific phone numbers.” At a customer’s request, can telephone carriers legally block certain types of calls (e.g., telemarketing calls) if technology is able to identify incoming calls as originating or probably originating from a telemarketer?
3. US Telecom describes the FCC’s position as “strict oversight in ensuring the unimpeded delivery of telecommunications traffic.” Is US Telecom’s characterization of the FCC’s position accurate? If so, upon what basis does the FCC claim that telephone carriers may not “block, choke, reduce or restrict telecommunications traffic in any way”?