Millions of Americans are victims of automated scam calls every day. The agency wants to step up its enforcement with the ability to take the scam artists to court.
The FCC chairwoman said in a statement that the fine was large. We need new rules of the game, that's why it's important.
Unlike the FTC and other agencies, the FCC doesn't actually collect fines. The paperwork is handed over to the justice department. Some people get away with paying less than they owe.
As we saw a few years ago with another major robocalling penalty, a $5 million payment was reduced to $18,332 and the proceeds from the sale of the scam artist's car. The FCC had issued hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fines. She said that part of that was due to the DOJ not pursuing the cases.
A national resource sharing group with 41 state attorneys general is one of the things the FCC is looking into. It still has to go through Justice, and that is something the agency seems to be tired of.
Many fines like this one have been issued by us. After we do that, we have to hand them over to our colleagues at the Department and Justice. I enjoy hope. I want the agency to be able to go to court and collect fines against the bad actors, instead of wishing for the best. Congress needs to change the law to make this happen. This is worth fighting for.
The kind of executive-empowering legislation that would be needed here is unlikely to be passed by Congress at the moment. Hopefully the FCC doesn't have to wait too long before it starts laying down the law
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