Vallone hopes to put an end to annoying robocalls
NE Queens lawmaker claims telecom companies have done nothing to prevent harassing calls
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A northeast Queens
councilman wants to put a
stop to incessant robocall
harassment that plagues New
Yorkers daily.
City Councilman Paul
Vallone highlighted the issue
of increased robocall activity
during a legislative session at
City Hall last week. According
to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), 60 percent
of complaints to agency
involved robocalls and calls
have increased by 57 percent
over the past year.
The FCC made efforts to
reduce robocalls in 2017 and
2018 which included allowing
companies to proactively
block calls and implementing
fines against call “spoofers.”
But the relentless calls seem
to continue.
Calls are generated from
numbers that appear to be
from other countries, like
Lithuania, the Virgin Islands,
Belarus and Senegal or mimic
local area codes and phone
numbers. Vallone said that the
telecom companies are aware
of the calls’ origins and can
combat and prohibit the calls
but have done nothing without
forced FCC intervention or
laws on the federal, state or
local levels.
Vallone said that the FCC
has also failed to take proper
action and urges telecom
companies to take acti0n
on their own to tamp down
on robocalls.
In response to the inaction,
Vallone drafted a resolution
to Congress to immediately
pass the Telephone Robocall
Abuse Criminal Enforcement
and Deterrence (TRACE)
Act, a bill legally requiring
providers to adopt a caller
authentication framework.
“Spam calls have exploded
to reach an intolerable and
unacceptable level and
immediate action needs to be
taken. If the FCC and telecom
companies are going to keep
ignoring the problem, then
City Councilman Paul Vallone is calling on Congress to take action
against robocalls. Courtesy of Vallone’s offi ce
we as legislators must stand
up to fight for the privacy and
quality of life of New Yorkers.
These companies are making
billions on the backs of our
citizens with no accountability
or repercussions for the
harassment we face,” said
Vallone. “This is as common
sense as legislation gets, and I
believe we need penalties and
fines for telecom companies
who knowingly allow our
citizens to be plagued and
constantly harassed.”
South Dakota Senator John
Thune and Massachusetts
Senator Ed Markey are the
bill’s current sponsors. On
the city level, Vallone is
calling for the City Council to
hold a hearing with telecom
companies to find out what
is being done to protect New
Yorkers from robocalls. He is
also working with the Mayor’s
Office of the Chief Technology
Officer to see which features
of the TRACE Act can be
replicated on the city level.
“This problem will only
get worse unless there is a
coordinated effort to pinpoint
and hold accountable those
responsible for the endless
onslaught of harassing
robocalls,” said Councilman
Peter Koo. “The longer this
problem is ignored, the more
emboldened the callers will
be in harassing the citizens
of New York City. I join
Council Member Vallone in
calling for the FCC to take
immediate action in order
to hold the perpetrators
accountable.”
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