Q: Is it just me, or has the fact that you are on the no-call list become meaningless? You need a phone number to report them, which apparently does not dissuade them. Perhaps the fines are not high enough to make them stop? What can be done about it?
— John LeBlanc, Lilburn
A: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which enforces the government's Do Not Call Registry, is exploring ways to thwart the technological advancements that have resulted in an increase in calls. There were 4 million complaints in 2012, up from 2.6 million in 2011, many as a result of new technology that "make such calls easier and cheaper, including auto-dialers that can generate thousands of calls a minute," the Los Angeles Times reported in July. There also is new spoofing software that masks violators' identities and can fool caller IDs on outdated telecommunications equipment. "The telecom system looked very different (10 years ago, when the do-not-call list was established)," Lois Greisman, associate director of the FTC's division of marketing practices, told the paper. The FTC has pursued 530 individuals and businesses, and in June, enforced a $7.5 million fine on Mortgage Investors Corp., which made more than 5.4 million calls to people on the list. The FTC in April awarded $25,000 each to two individuals who won a contest with their ideas on preventing illegal calls. Serdar Danis and Aaron Foss presented proposals that "focus on intercepting and filtering out illegal prerecorded calls using technology to 'blacklist' robocaller phone numbers and 'whitelist' numbers associated with acceptable incoming calls," the FTC said in a statement.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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