The Scale of Federal and State Failure on Robocalls: 5.1 Billion Robocalls in November 2018

The robocalling epidemic is an example of the complete failure of federal and state regulation and enforcement, the failure of litigation to block the calls, and the ills of shrink-wrapped “terms of service” and blanket consents.   Despite the “do not call” law and lists, the scale of robocalls is massive and growing:  “There were 5.1 billion robocalls made in November — a record 1,963 per second — meaning that the average person did in fact hear more annoying health insurance, easy-money and interest rate scam pitches than ever before, according to a monthly YouMail survey.” That quote is from a December 6, 2018 article in the Chicago Tribune. The article also reports that states are taking some further steps to try to stop robocalls, but it appears they are mainly just trying to facilitate private service solutions needed because of the failure to enforce the existing federal laws.