The billions of illegal robocalls inundating Americans are being facilitated largely by small telecom carriers that transmit calls over the internet, industry officials say, but authorities are at odds over what — if anything — they can do to stop them. From a report: These telecom carriers typically charge fractions of a cent per call, making their money on huge volume. Their outsize role in the robocall scourge has become apparent as large telecom companies get better at tracing robocalls to their source, spurring calls for regulators to hold them accountable. “There are definitely repeat offenders who keep showing up as the sources of illegal robocalls,” said Patrick Halley, a senior vice president at USTelecom, a trade association of telecom companies that runs a robocall-tracing group. “Carriers that knowingly allow the origination of billions of illegal robocalls should be held accountable.” U.S. regulators have conflicting interpretations of their ability to take the companies to court, however. And carriers aren’t explicitly required to try to differentiate between legal and illegal robocalls, further clouding enforcement.

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Source: Slashdot – Small Companies Play Big Role in Robocall Scourge, But Remedies Are Elusive