Member-only story
The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force: political theatre at its finest
Task force or punting about the scam robocall crisis?
Earlier this month, a seemingly fantastic event occurred. State attorneys generals from all 50 states established a nationwide Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. With billions of scam robocalls monthly, a blue-ribbon panel on this task force to investigate and prosecute companies suspected of allowing or using illegal robocalls from foreign entities is undoubtedly a welcome relief to countless scam robocall victims.
The task force will be led by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. AG Stein filed a lawsuit earlier this year against gateway service provider Articul8 for routing 65 million alleged scam calls to North Carolina phone numbers, bringing claims under the Telemarketing Sales Rule and North Carolina’s Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The court entered a default judgment against Articul8 in late February 2022.
While some might congratulate AG Stein on this effort, what got lost in the action is that Articul8 was a bit player in the telco industry. And AG Stein has not been able to show evidence that the Articul8 effort has had any reduction in robocalls to North Carolina citizens. As I…
