Friday, April 16, 2021
In one of the first actions under acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau issued a $225 million dollar fine its largest ever against a pair of robocallers showing that the agency, even with new leadership, has no intention of letting up in its battle against illegal robocallers. The unlawful calls, many of which were also spoofed, falsely claimed to be offering full health insurance coverage from several of America’s largest insurance companies; however, calls were instead transferred to other insurers offering short-term, limited-duration health plans. USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Consortium assisted the Enforcement Bureau with the investigation, with one of the robocallers telling the Consortium he intentionally called numbers on the Do-Not-Call list because he believed it was more profitable to target those consumers.
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FCC starts crackdown on pirate radio landlords
The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has begun targeting property owners and managers that tolerate pirate broadcasting on their properties. It started today by notifying owners of three properties in Queens in New York City that there is apparent illegal broadcasting happening at their buildings. The bureau issued an announcement that it is exercising the FCC’s new authority under the recently enacted PIRATE Act, which gave the commission a significant new hammer in its anti-pirate toolkit: “Parties that knowingly facilitate illegal broadcasting on their property are liable for fines of up to $2 million,” it stated.