Maryland robocalls are again under federal scrutiny after Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general. They want the FCC to tighten safeguards against illegal calls and scam texts, as noted by Baltimore Chronicle. The effort is detailed by the Oregon Department of Justice and follows recent FCC enforcement action.
Maryland joins 49-state robocall coalition
Brown is among attorneys general pressing the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its Know Your Upstream Provider requirements.
Those rules govern how telephone companies check providers sending calls into their networks. The coalition argues that existing checks leave openings for operators carrying fraudulent traffic.
The scale is substantial. Americans received about 29.6 billion scam robocalls and texts last year. Fraud losses approached $2 billion, according to figures cited by the coalition.
What attorneys general want the FCC to change
The states want phone companies to investigate their business partners before accepting traffic. They also want monitoring to continue after contracts are signed.
Their proposals include:
- minimum standards for verifying upstream providers;
- regular reviews for suspicious calling patterns;
- stronger caller ID authentication;
- termination of providers that repeatedly break rules;
- meaningful penalties and retained compliance records.
The idea is straightforward: stop illegal traffic before it reaches consumers, rather than relying only on blocking tools after calls enter the network.
How the proposed FCC rules could work
| Measure | Intended effect |
|---|---|
| Provider verification | Identify suspicious operators earlier |
| Regular monitoring | Detect changing robocall patterns |
| Caller ID controls | Make spoofing harder |
| Network cutoffs | Remove repeat offenders |
| Stronger penalties | Increase compliance pressure |
The proposal comes amid broader enforcement. On September 2, the FCC removed 14 voice providers from its Robocall Mitigation Database for failing to meet federal requirements. U.S. providers were ordered to block their traffic.
Brown also participates in the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force. Maryland previously joined federal pressure for tougher controls over companies supplying legitimate telephone numbers to scammers.
For consumers, the new push does not promise an immediate end to unwanted calls. It shifts more responsibility toward the companies carrying them. That could make illegal robocalls harder and more expensive to route through legitimate U.S. networks.
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