FTC to Unveil Robocall 'Call It Quits' Campaign

The Federal Trade Commission is announcing a new campaign to crack down on unwanted robocalls.

Operation Call it Quits will be a joint agency effort, announced June 25 in Chicago by the director of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau, Andrew Smith, and Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, as well as a consumer who has been "adversely affected" by telemarketing robocalls.

Both the FTC and FCC have take aim at the billions of robocalls placed annually, some of which are not unwanted--like school notifications or breach warnings--but many of which are scams or nuisance calls.

Just last month, the FTC secured summary judgment against defendants in the PointBreak Media alleged robocall scam.

Meanwhile, the FCC recently voted to clarify that carriers can block unwanted robocalls by default before they ever reach their subs.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.