The number of consumer complaints about possible robocall or misleading and inaccurate caller identification information violations continues to drop year over year, the FCC told Congress. That information was included in the latest annual report to lawmakers on robocalls and caller ID issues, as required by the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act. The FCC's Enforcement, Wireline and Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureaus compiled the report. Through Nov. 30, the agency received 29,038 reports of unauthorized or nonemergency calls using an artificial or prerecorded voice message. That figure compared with more than 39,000 in 2022 and better than 46,000 in 2021. It said it received 53,725 telephone solicitation complaints through Nov. 30, compared with nearly 71,000 the year before and nearly 98,000 in 2021. It said it received 13,607 complaints about noncompliant calls using a fax machine or automatic telephone dialing system through Nov. 30, compared with more than 19,500 last year and nearly 29,000 in 2021. And it said that through Nov. 30 it received 29,216 spoofing complaints, compared with nearly 40,000 last year and roughly 57,000 the year before. The agency said that between Jan. 1, 2022, and Nov. 30 of this year, DOJ collected no forfeiture penalties or criminal fines for robocall and misleading caller ID cases the agency referred to the department. "A disproportionately large number of calls" come from VoIP providers, said the FCC, which also noted that declining "call costs over the past few decades have eliminated financial barriers to entry for would-be robocallers." The report said that while industry and government collaboration "has led to a decline in the number of robocalls," the tools illegal robocallers deploy are evolving to include, for example, voice phishing attacks that use AI-powered robocalls mimicking a real conversation. Illegal robocallers often attempt to evade blocking and labeling by using VoIP services such as number rotation, the report said.

Starting Jan.15, FCC Enforcement Bureau penalties will get a boost for inflation. Penalty amounts will be multiplied by 1.03241 and rounded to the nearest dollar, an order in Friday’s Daily Digest said. The adjustments reflect OMB guidance and are in accordance with the 2015 Inflation Adjustment Act, the order said.

The Insurance Marketing Coalition is seeking a review by the 11th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court of the FCC’s Dec. 18 order implementing rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to target and eliminate illegal robotexts (see 2312190032), said IMC’s petition Thursday (docket 23-14125). The order exceeds the FCC’s statutory authority and was adopted “without observance of procedure required by law,” said the petition. IMC wants the 11th Circuit to vacate the order, which imposes several measures, including codifying that the national do not call registry’s protections apply to unlawful text messages. IMC is filing a "protective" petition for review now "out of an abundance of caution," it said. It will file a second petition for review when the order is published in the Federal Register, it said. In an unrelated Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rulemaking earlier this year, IMC described itself as representing a cross-section of insurance industry stakeholders, “promoting compliant best practices in insurance marketing and services.” Covington & Burling represents IMC in its 11th Circuit petition for review.

The Food and Drug Administration-Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency agreement on cybersecurity guidance for medical device manufacturers and public alerts for current vulnerabilities should be updated to improve agency coordination and clarify roles, the GAO said Thursday. It said the 2018 agreement states a goal of sharing information to enhance mutual awareness, heighten coordination, catalyze standards development and enhance technical capabilities between the agencies. GAO said the agreement doesn't reflect developments since it was signed such as FDA's creating a standard operation procedure for sharing information with CISA.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced Wednesday she’s rechartering the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council for another term. A primary focus of the council will be how AI and machine learning “can enhance the security, reliability, and integrity of communications networks in a nondiscriminatory, transparent, and socially responsible manner,” the FCC said. Other issues CSRIC will tackle include “the security and reliability risks unique to emerging 6G networks and the reliability of Next Generation 911 networks,” it added. The first meeting is expected in June, a year after its last meeting (see 2306260058).

The FCC will “resume” the process for issuing licenses to T-Mobile and other winners of the 2022 2.5 GHz auction following President Joe Biden’s signing of the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (S-2787), a commission spokesperson emailed us Wednesday. The president's signing of S-2787 was expected (see 2312120067). House passage of the measure last week (see 2312110062) gives the FCC authority for 90 days to issue the 2.5 GHz licenses. Lawmakers viewed the legislation as a stopgap measure, required after months of stalled Capitol Hill talks on a broader package to renew the FCC’s lapsed general auction authority (see 2312040001). “We welcome” S-2787’s enactment “and hope it’s a precursor to full restoration of the FCC’s” mandate, the commission spokesperson said. The FCC can “expeditiously issue” T-Mobile the “7,000+ 2.5 GHz licenses” it won in the auction, Vice President-Federal Government Relations Tony Russo posted on X Wednesday. T-Mobile is “ready to deploy” that spectrum “and improve connectivity for millions of Americans nationwide!” S-2787 lead sponsor Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he’s “grateful to see my bill signed into law so that more Americans have the tools they need to do their jobs and grow their businesses.”

Future Section 230 cases before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals face "an extreme risk of judicial activism to overturn the existing 5th Circuit precedent and disrupt decades of Section 230 jurisprudence," Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman blogged Tuesday. Pointing to the dissent issued Monday in a 5th Circuit denial of an en banc rehearing motion involving a lawsuit against messaging app Snapchat (see 2312180055), Goldman said the seven dissenting judges' goal "seems to be to urge the Supreme Court to take this case." Written by Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, the dissent criticized the 5th Circuit's previous "atextual interpretation" of Section 230, "leaving in place sweeping immunity for social media companies that the text cannot possibly bear." "Declining to reconsider this atextual immunity was a mistake," Elrod wrote.

Comments are due Jan. 16, replies Feb. 12, regarding possible harmonization of access to customer proprietary network information under the SIM swap and port-out fraud rules adopted at the FCC's November meeting (see 2311150042), according to a notice in Thursday's Federal Register.

The FCC's barring SpaceX from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program "is a really odd decision" that makes sense only as part of a political weaponization of the agency against company owner Elon Musk, Commissioner Brendan Carr said Thursday during an interview with podcast Tesla Talk. Carr's words echoed his dissent in the RDOF decision (see 2312130027). "Twelve of the last 16 years, the administrative state has been controlled by Democrats," he said. "That's where all the action happens these days." The National Labor Relations Board, FTC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service actions against Musk companies stem from the White House's "green light. ... You don't need to find some smoking gun memo that tells every agency what to do. ... It's clear enough." The FCC finding that SpaceX technology isn't reliable "doesn't seem credible," he said, adding it's "far from clear" the broadband, equity, access and deployment program will reach all who are unconnected, due to its fiber focus. On the other hand, deploying Starlink would have made money go further, Carr argued. The White House has a "hate/need relationship" with Musk, requiring his technological capabilities for priorities such as connectivity and spaceflight, but in areas where it doesn't need to lean on him, it engages in regulatory harassment, Carr said. The U.S. Supreme Court "needs to tighten down on the discretion it gives to agencies," he added. The FCC didn't comment. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday retweeted a Carr post about agencies targeting Musk. He added that President Joe Biden's administration "is weaponizing federal agencies against its political opponents [and] now they’ve got the FCC going after" Musk. The White House didn't comment.

Smartphones and TVs saw notable price drops in the U.S. between November 2022 and last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index unadjusted data released Tuesday. TV prices fell 9.5% year over year, while smartphones were down 14% and computers, peripherals and smart home assistant pricing fell 4.6%. Residential phone service rose 4.7% year over year, while cable, satellite and livestreaming TV service costs were up 4.3%. Wireless phone service costs declined 2.8% year over year, but internet service was up 3.7% as was video purchase/subscription/rental, which rose 3%. BLS said September prices for all items rose up 3.1% year over year before seasonal adjustment.