Putting the kibosh on robocalls is easier said than done

[Commentary] The Kingsbury Commitment settled an antitrust case brought by the federal government and paved the way for the modern phone system. "Because of Kingsbury, we were able to have more than one phone company," said Eric Burger, a computer science professor and director of Georgetown University's Center for Secure Communications. "That's a good thing," he said. "But also because of him, AT&T and Verizon are required by law to deliver any call that reaches their networks." That's one reason robocalls keep getting through. Another is that, thanks to technology that can trick caller ID systems, telemarketers and scammers keep finding sneaky ways to get past your defenses.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed new rules intended to cut down on the number of robocalls bothering people. A key change is to clear up any confusion over whether phone companies are allowed to block robocalls, just as Internet service providers try to block spam e-mail. "We are giving the green light for robocall-blocking technology," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said. "The FCC wants to make it clear: Telephone companies can -- and in fact should -- offer consumers robocall-blocking tools." Problem solved? Not hardly. It would take legislative or regulatory action to tweak the Kingsbury Commitment and allow carriers to block questionable calls from other phone companies, Burger said. Until then, a telemarketer or scammer anywhere in the world could use some fly-by-night phone company to gain access to the major networks.Then there's the even bigger problem of spoofing. This is a practice in which a caller ID system is tricked into thinking that a call is originating from somewhere else. And here's the catch: It's not illegal. So two cheers to the FCC for saying more needs to be done to put the kibosh on robocalls. But at this point, that's about all they're saying.