CTIA Promises to Help FCC Fight Wireless Spam
Wireless carriers want to work with the FCC against those that send their subscribers spam, CTIA President Steve Largent said in a letter to the agency. A new CTIA working group is eyeing strategies to block wireless spam, sources said. But carriers need the FCC to prosecute companies that violate consumer protection laws, the letter said.
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Most kinds of complaint to the FCC against wireless are dropping, Largent said. The exception is autodialing -- unsolicited live or recorded telemarketing calls and e-mail messages to cellphones, pagers and other devices. Complaints tend to allege CAN-SPAM Act or Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations, he said. Consumer Protection Act complaints hit almost 6,500 in 4Q 2007, up more by more than half from just over 4,100 in Q3 2007, a recent FCC report said.
As CTIA has previously noted, individual wireless carriers block as many as 200 million text message advertisements each month, and when they can find them, wireless carriers take these spammers to court to protect their customers from unwanted and costly commercial messages,” he wrote. “However, even with all the tools at their disposal, carriers cannot stop every call or unsolicited commercial message.”
Carriers need support from the FCC, Largent said. “I am writing to urge the Commission to work with wireless carriers to increase enforcement efforts against third parties sending unsolicited commercial messages to wireless customers,” he wrote. More complaints mean customers find “unlawful third party conduct” disruptive, he said. “This conduct also substantially raises carriers’ costs of providing customer care, explaining to customers their options in enhancing their protections going forward, investigating customer complaints and issuing credits,” he said.
CTIA worries about a recent spike in Consumer Protection Act complaints, said Michael Altschul, CTIA general counsel. His group scrutinizes quarterly FCC complaint reports, he said Friday. “When a consumer calls to complain about a wireless TCPA issue it means that they've gotten an unsolicited telemarketing call on their cellphone or that they've gotten an unsolicited text message,” he said. “These complaints are about third parties who are violating either the TCPA or the CAN-SPAM Act. The carriers are as much victimized by this as their customers.” Added Altschul: “Our letter urges the FCC to step up its investigation and enforcement of these TCPA complaints, and offers the wireless industry’s full cooperation.”