Schumer Seeks Harsher Penalties for Illegal Robocallers

US Senator Charles Schumer has announced the introduction of legislation called the QUIET (Quell Unnecessary, Intentional, and Encroaching Telephone Calls) Act which seeks to raise fines and impose harsher punishments on companies violating current federal laws on telemarketing calls.

The number of unwanted telemarketing calls has spiked in recent years, especially from illegal automated calling systems that play pre-recorded telemarketing calls. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were 131,491 complaints about robocalls in 2013, up from 40,639 complaints in 2010.

The recent spike in illegal robocalls can be attributed to advances in technology that allow companies to use automated machines to spam home phones and cell phones at low cost. This technology has evolved in recent years to allow even a single person to make millions of pre-recorded calls with the click of a mouse.

Schumer's new legislation seeks to drastically increase punishments for telemarketing companies that continue to make robocalls. The bill, introduced in the Senate this week, will punish telemarketing companies that willfully employ robocalls to dial cell phones or residential home phones at $20,000 per violation and up to ten years in prison for the most egregious repeat offenders.

Current exceptions to telemarketing laws will be included in the legislation, such as charitable, health related, or emergency phone calls.