Koster calls on FCC to clarify telemarketer blocking rules

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller are leading a group calling for clarification from the Federal Communications Commission on whether telephone companies can legally block telemarketing calls on their customers' behalf.

In a letter to the FCC, Koster, Zoeller and 37 other attorneys general today requested a formal opinion on federal law as an attempt to encourage phone carriers to utilize call-blocking technologies such as NoMoRobo, Call Control and Telemarketing Guard to identify and block unwelcome sales calls only when requested by customers, according to a news release.

Koster said some companies have not implemented the call-blocking technology, in part, because of a belief that federal law prevents such an act. He said the belief is mistaken.

“Just as email spam filters have reduced unwanted email, call-filtering technology has the ability to protect consumers from scams and other telephone harassment,” Koster said in the release. “I believe clarification from the FCC could resolve this issue in favor of providing needed protection for consumers.”

Koster's office received over 57,000 complaints last year about unwanted calls, a majority of which were robocalls, or recorded solicitations.