The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), at its August 5 Open meeting, approved two items relating to the robocall world. One seeks to combat illegal robocalls through revising the FCC’s rules on phone number access. The second addresses a process for reviewing disputes over participation in the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication system.

In the first item, the agency is “proposing to update its rules governing interconnected VoIP providers’ direct access to phone numbers to address problems that have arisen from the growth of widely available VoIP software that can allow bad actors to make spoofed robocalls with minimal technical experience and cost.” In accordance with the TRACED act, “the proposed rules would require VoIP providers applying for direct access to numbers to comply with antirobocalling obligations.” The proposal also “would establish guardrails to safeguard finite numbering resources, protect against national security risks, reduce the opportunity for regulatory arbitrage, and further promote public safety.”

In the second item, the Commission “adopted new rules establishing a fair and consistent process by which it can review actions affecting a voice service provider’s ability to comply with our anti-spoofing caller ID authentication rules. FCC rules require broad implementation of the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework on voice service providers’ IP networks.”

Providers participating in the framework “must possess a digital ‘token’ which the private Governance Authority that oversees the STIR/SHAKEN framework may revoke.” The FCC approved a “process for providers aggrieved by such a decision to appeal to the FCC, ensuring due process and fair oversight for all providers that participate in the STIR/SHAKEN ecosystem.”