Robocall-Enabling Provider Gets the Digital Death Penalty From the FCC

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered(Opens in a new window) every telecom provider in the US to stop accepting traffic from a company that it says scorned its anti-robocall rules, dealing that firm the equivalent of a digital death penalty.

The order (PDF(Opens in a new window)) issued Tuesday against Global UC, a small firm based in Fort Worth, Texas, reports that the company filed a deficient certification with the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database(Opens in a new window) that lacked the required description of its participation in a mandatory call-authentication system called STIR/SHAKEN(Opens in a new window). When asked to fix that, the order says Global UC replied: “We are not needing this certification.”

Turns out, they do need that certification. This week’s FCC order “requires all intermediate providers and terminating voice service providers” to drop Global UC’s traffic within two business days. So you may have Global UC relay a robocall asking about your car’s extended warranty through Thanksgiving, probably right as you’re sitting down for dinner on Thursday.

“For too long, robocalls have flooded our phones and facilitated fraud,” says FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. “So we are using a new tool to fight against these scam calls. We are cutting providers off and preventing them from accessing our networks when they fail to demonstrate they will protect consumers. This is a novel way to stop robocalls and it’s one we are going to keep using until we get this junk off the line.” 

The commission warned providers that they might face this form of electronic excommunication in July, when it notified eight uncooperative providers that they were at risk of government-ordered disconnection. Global UC was not among those eight, but it apparently failed to take the hint.