FCC To Declare AI-Generated Voices In Robocalls Illegal Under Existing Law (arstechnica.com) 75
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote on making the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal. The FCC said that AI-generated voices in robocalls have "escalated during the last few years" and have "the potential to confuse consumers with misinformation by imitating the voices of celebrities, political candidates, and close family members." FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's proposed Declaratory Ruling would rule that "calls made with AI-generated voices are 'artificial' voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which would make voice cloning technology used in common robocalls scams targeting consumers illegal," the commission announced yesterday. Commissioners reportedly will vote on the proposal in the coming weeks.
The TCPA, a 1991 US law, bans the use of artificial or prerecorded voices in most non-emergency calls "without the prior express consent of the called party." The FCC is responsible for writing rules to implement the law, which is punishable with fines. As the FCC noted yesterday, the TCPA "restricts the making of telemarketing calls and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems and artificial or prerecorded voice messages." Telemarketers are required "to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before robocalling them. If successfully enacted, this Declaratory Ruling would ensure AI-generated voice calls are also held to those same standards."
Rosenworcel said her proposed ruling will "recognize this emerging technology as illegal under existing law, giving our partners at State Attorneys General offices across the country new tools they can use to crack down on these scams and protect consumers. "AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate," Rosenworcel said. "No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we could all be a target of these faked calls."
The TCPA, a 1991 US law, bans the use of artificial or prerecorded voices in most non-emergency calls "without the prior express consent of the called party." The FCC is responsible for writing rules to implement the law, which is punishable with fines. As the FCC noted yesterday, the TCPA "restricts the making of telemarketing calls and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems and artificial or prerecorded voice messages." Telemarketers are required "to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before robocalling them. If successfully enacted, this Declaratory Ruling would ensure AI-generated voice calls are also held to those same standards."
Rosenworcel said her proposed ruling will "recognize this emerging technology as illegal under existing law, giving our partners at State Attorneys General offices across the country new tools they can use to crack down on these scams and protect consumers. "AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate," Rosenworcel said. "No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we could all be a target of these faked calls."
Re:It'll be funny to watch (Score:5, Interesting)
Because Robocalls are still a thing even AFTER all the laws passed to stop such a thing from happening.
No doubt that Politicians will exempt themselves from this law as well.
This isn't a SCOTUS problem, it is a problem that TELCOs could have solved decades ago, and haven't. This is a problem the Congress Critters could have solved decades ago. This is a problem the Voters could have solved decades ago. It just isn't a hill that many are willing to die upon. Yes, it is annoying, but so are every other law that starts with "There ought to be a law ...."
See also: "Where Karens Come From"
Re: (Score:2)
Because Robocalls are still a thing even AFTER all the laws passed to stop such a thing from happening.
No doubt that Politicians will exempt themselves from this law as well.
This isn't a SCOTUS problem, it is a problem that TELCOs could have solved decades ago, and haven't. This is a problem the Congress Critters could have solved decades ago. This is a problem the Voters could have solved decades ago. It just isn't a hill that many are willing to die upon. Yes, it is annoying, but so are every other law that starts with "There ought to be a law ...."
See also: "Where Karens Come From"
I consider robocalls to be the junk-mail of the phone. Make any mention of stopping junk mail because we're literally creating shit and shipping it everywhere just to end up straight in the trash and people come crawling out of the woodwork to tell you the USPS would be out of business instantly if that happened. I'm sure the telcos will eventually take that stance as well, if people get too uppity about wanting robocalls stopped.
Re: (Score:2)
Would they though?
I'm not sure how it works in the US, but here in the UK, I pay a monthly fee for unlimited calls, and the only difference between the call plans available is the amount and speed of internet data you get.
So ideally, my phone company would want me to make zero voice calls.
Re: (Score:2)
I think most politicians rely on robocalls, so they're very wary of messing with it no matter how angry voters are. Only if a politician is in a very safe district would they dare to try and rein in robocalls.
Re: (Score:2)
Because Robocalls are still a thing even AFTER all the laws passed to stop such a thing from happening.
No doubt that Politicians will exempt themselves from this law as well.
This isn't a SCOTUS problem, it is a problem that TELCOs could have solved decades ago, and haven't.
Why is this a problem for Telcos? Legit call, spam call... they get paid either way.
It is a legal (court) problem because it's presently not too expensive to permit it, start leveraging some per call fines from an enforcement agency with teeth and watch spam calls drop dramatically.
Re: (Score:2)
Telco's can and ought to clean up their CallerID lists. Those Telcos that are suspect get marked as SPAM.
The Legit Telcos won't let their customers spoof CID that isn't theirs. Those that do should be labeled as SPAM or at least "Unverified" or CID Blocked or whatever, I don't care. The Robodialers from India et al get automatic label, as the calls come in. Legit Telcos can label the spammy VOIP providers as exactly that.
The problems are fixable if the TELCOs wanted to really fix the problem. It's just too
Re: (Score:2)
Because Robocalls are still a thing even AFTER all the laws passed to stop such a thing from happening.
Murder is still a thing even AFTER all the laws passed to stop it, maybe we should decriminalize it - for the sake of freedom
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I've lost hope for this country. I hope that it's just me being pessimistic, and that I'm not correct, but all this blows my mind. I like the intent, on the FCCs here, but enforcement and penalties seem to be completely inadequate. It drives me nuts when all the huge fans of laws and law enforcement on people, don't want them on non-existing entities (i.e. companies). They aren't anarchist, push laws and harsher punishments on people to where lady justice's scales, have to be completely lopsided. All
Re:It'll be funny to watch (Score:5, Insightful)
Greed is the new god. The "profit above all" mentality has seeped out of the corporations and into the citizenry. You can't have a rational conversation with any random group of folks about regulation of industry without people literally losing their mind as if you were attacking the baby Jesus himself. Too many have bought into the trickle-down theory, and truly believe that the more profit companies make, the more potential to feed it down to their lowest workers, despite forty plus years of demonstrably true data showing exactly the opposite. Data doesn't matter. Facts do not matter. The only thing that matters is the all holy profit.
There's only one way out. Once they've ransacked enough of the economy that nobody's left to buy their shit? Something will change. Most likely a new round-up of riff-raff in the name of security for the only people that matter, the ultra-rich and their fully-owned subsidiary, the United States Government.
Re: (Score:3)
New god, same as the old god.
Re: (Score:2)
Hello (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Hey Lenny, you owe me 5 grand for those William Shatner collector plates you never sent! And your dating service is useless; all three dates swiped my wallet!
Re: Hello (Score:2)
Uh? Tell me more.
Re: Tell me more. (Score:1)
Well, one date was your mum, the only one who put out.
Re: (Score:1)
During
Re: Tell me more. (Score:3)
So you don't know Lenny: https://lennytroll.com/ [lennytroll.com]
Re: Hello (Score:2)
Wait, are you calling to tell me about my expired car warranty?
Re: Hello (Score:3)
How are Lenny's ducks doing these days?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
My third eldest, Larissa, did mention something about the ducks recently.
Re: (Score:2)
My company has an extension for Lenny just so we can forward junk calls to him. It's also fun to prank new employees and tell them they need to talk with Lenny in HR about some onboarding paperwork.
What about AI personal assistants? (Score:1)
Re: What about AI personal assistants? (Score:2)
Yes.
Re: What about AI personal assistants? (Score:2)
Illegality doesn't matter with no enforcement. (Score:5, Insightful)
How is DoNotCall.gov working out?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Then what are you doing on slashdot? Only man busts here.
Re: (Score:2)
Not sure, but I do know that if I extend my cars extended bumper 2 bumper warranty, which covers just the rubber strip on the back bumper, they will buy my property at about 1% its actual value so I don't have to worry about it any more or something.
Re:Illegality doesn't matter with no enforcement. (Score:4, Informative)
The enforcement was very effective within US jurisdiction. Unfortunately, that has no effect on robocalls originating from overseas.
Re: Illegality doesn't matter with no enforcement. (Score:2)
I don't get why it's ineffective overseas? For every number thats in the do not call database, add it to a telco firewall for calls originating outside the country. Require them to solve some sort of audio captcha, record them, use them to prosecute, etc. All of this might take an act of congress, so they should get right on that!
Re: (Score:3)
We have no jurisdiction in the countries where most of the robocall centers are located. We can't prosecute anyone; we have to talk the local authorities into doing it for us.
All we can do is ask the telecom companies nicely to block the calls. The neoliberal laissez-faire US government is loath to interfere with business in any way except to *remove* regulations, so unless it miraculously decides to stand up to its corporate masters and pass the right legislation, then take the inevitable court battle all
Re: (Score:1)
It's cheaper for the US gov't to pay thugs to break the telemarketers' legs than get their local authorities to crack down. When civilization doesn't work right, use "cave tech".
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
VOIP says hello
No teeth. No care. (Score:2)
Do you have an account with Chase Bank?
No.
Do you have an account with 5th/3rd Bank?
No. Just cancel whatever it is and I'll handle it with my own bank.
Brother...
Hmm, telemarketers (Score:2)
Telemarketers, sure.
How about political activists? In this elections year, I'd be really surprised if some fine print didn't get slipped in that exempts those.
But good luck arresting somebody (Score:2)
in Timbuktu.
Re: But good luck arresting somebody (Score:2)
Then don't arrest. Just block them at a telco level.
Re: (Score:1)
They'd just use a zombie network.
Good luck - SCOTUS will block this soon (Score:4, Insightful)
Commercial speech is free speech according to SCOTUS. And courts are already stripping government agencies of authority for example the current issues related to the Chevron deference. There is a new movement that nothing can happen unless Congress is explicitly involved in every action by a government agency, it's lunacy and can't work but that's kind of the point.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
This is actually GREAT...and more where the founding fathers wanted things.
For decades now especially, un-elected bureaucrats have been essentially making up new "laws" and enforcing them, and the citizenry have little to no recourse.
The laws are suppos
Re:Good luck - SCOTUS will block this soon (Score:5, Informative)
Government agencies have been created by acts of Congress since the founding of this country. And are granted authority through Congress itself. Typically the administration is handled by the Executive branch, but this can vary based on how the Legislature authorizes the new agency.
Re: (Score:2)
All true.
But the argument here is, their authority begins and ends with what congress tells them it is.
Meaning, they cannot make up new regulations that have the enforcement of law out of thin air....congress has to spell it out for them.
The dangers of this is that these executive agencies, if left unchecked as they are today...can make up new things that poten
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
If they cannot stop robocall anyway (Score:2)
lets see them enforce this new rule.
So how's that working out for us right now? (Score:2)
Telemarketers are required "to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before robocalling them. If successfully enacted, this Declaratory Ruling would ensure AI-generated voice calls are also held to those same standards."
In other words, absolutely nothing will be done about these calls.
Why are robocalls still even legal in itself? (Score:3)
-No Soliciting.
Re: (Score:3)
Most of these calls originate from other countries, so making them illegal in the US wouldn't have much effect.
Re: (Score:3)
However, turning off *all* internet to India or other countries where these calls originate will solve the problem rather quickly. Local enforcement will take care of the problem if the entire country is blacklisted into Internet oblivion.
Re: (Score:2)
That's right, if you shoot the patient who is choking, problem solved, no more choking.
Re: (Score:2)
Patient choking? This isn't shooting the patient.
The US phone system is overwhelmed by mostly fraudulent marketing calls. I have customers that refuse to answer the phone. I have friends that won't accept *any* calls from someone that isn't in their contacts list. Spoofing gets around that. The phone system is almost unusable due to foreign robocalls. I feel assaulted between 30 and 50 times per day for each of these scam calls. They are committing a fineable offense--calling a "Do Not Call" number.
Re: (Score:2)
You don't get it, do you. There are lots of Americans who depend on internet connections to India to be able to talk to their families and loved ones. This may come as a surprise to you, but the US isn't just a land of white people of European descent. By shutting off all internet to India, you'd be cutting off a lot of good and important uses as well as probably NOT effectively shutting out the scammers. Those guys would find a way around such a blockade in a matter of minutes. The good guys, the ones that
Re: (Score:2)
If someone rang your doorbell 50 times a day and either ran away once you got there, or tried to sell/scam you the same thing over and over you'd be upset. Most of those calls have a robot front end so it takes you a minute or two to get to a real person to yell at. At some point you'd call the police and/or contact your government entity (local/feds/whatever) and plead for them to stop. I have friends that are H1-B Indian workers here. They'll be fine. I worked for a company that outsourced work to Ind
Re: (Score:2)
I understand your being upset. But if you have 50 solicitors a day ringing your doorbell (which I suspect is actually an exaggeration) that still doesn't give you the right to shoot the next one that comes up to your door. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/u... [nbcnews.com]
Have you actually asked your H1-B friends how they would feel about a total internet blockade of India?
The internet to India won't be off ever. And in any case these calls don't just originate from India. There are many countries to blame here. And the int
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Your approach might work for you, as long as you don't have any actual friends or relatives in another country. A great many Americans do in fact have friends or family in other countries.
But on fixing caller ID, yes, I absolutely agree. There's already a fix in the works, but the problem is that there are many small telcos that don't yet have the new technology, and don't have the funds to upgrade their systems.
Please don't (Score:3)
Leave me with my one remaining fantasy. That it's really Tay Tay leaving all those sexy messages on my answering machine.
Stephen Hawking would object! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Is this going to kill.. (Score:2)
So, Google Duplex IS Illegal (Score:2)
Sounds like Google may wish to fight this, since by the plain meaning of the terms, they would be violating this.
I doubt you could claim that making or failing to make a dinner reservation is an emergency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
oh noes! (Score:2)
declare it illegal you say? well, THAT'LL stop them! Goodness knows a telemarketing firm would NEVER break the law!
Useless (Score:2)
Unenforced laws are meaningless (Score:1)
Tell some telemarketer to put you on their "do not call" list, and then they call the next day. What are you going to do about it?
It's like telling migrants that it's illegal to cross the border.
Next... (Score:2)
Can we have a scandal about ad agencies and other scum bribing regulators, and then ban robocalls, period?
Give me one good reason, for example, that anyone with a blocked phone number should ever call me.
This regulation is garbage! (Score:2)
Call? (Score:2)
Does anyone answer their phones if they don't know who is calling? I haven't in years, and I'm an old fart. The young hatchlings won't answer even if they know who's calling. "Just send me a text."