OAKLAND — California Attorney General Bonta today joined 28 attorneys general in submitting an amicus brief in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, in support of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule which would limit unwanted robocalls and robotexts. The rule in question would close a loophole that allows lead generators to trick a consumer into “consenting” to calls from potentially thousands of companies. Lead generators engage in generating consumer interest on public facing websites with the goal of turning that interest into a sale — in this case, sale of consumer consent to other robocallers or robotexters. The brief defends the regulation, which was recently vacated by the Eleventh Circuit, and argues that it is within FCC’s statutory authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

“Everyone hates robocalls. Robocalls continue to top the list of most frequent consumer complaints across the country, and their annihilation continues to be a nationwide, bipartisan effort,” said Attorney General Bonta. “By closing the lead-generator loophole and putting an end to consent abuse, the Federal Communications Commission’s rule would substantially reduce unwanted telemarketing robocalls that bombard individuals and prohibit telemarketers from selling consumer consent to other callers — this is an essential tool in the effort to protect consumers from unwanted and often illegal robocalls...”